Legacy of the Six
by MasterBaitnSwitch
Summary: This story has been scrapped and left on the side of the road to die.  I will no longer be updating this story, but I'm going to leave it up here for the sake of the few fans it had back when it was still popular.  Currently working on a better version.
1. Six Elements

*Knock knock*

The figure jumped from the sudden sound, having been disturbed while he was deep in thought.

"Come in," a deep, commanding voice called out from the mouth of the figure. All that could be seen of him was his silhouette, a shadow cast out amongst the distant stars in the visible universe. Though the _Genesis_ was hidden in a dimension of its own, a passenger would still see the dark background of space from the main universe, essentially serving as wallpaper for the entire place. The walls, floors and ceilings of the ark were completely invisible, but at the same time showed the view outside of the ark's own dimension. The star-dotted door of the figure's chamber opened, and a head popped in.

"We are all ready," a sweet, serene voice said gently from one shadow to the other. It was virtually impossible to see inside the vessel, but its passengers weren't hindered by something as mundane as the standard '20/20' vision, so lighting wasn't necessary.

"Terribly sorry, were you all waiting on me?" the first figure asked as it walked over to the door.

"More or less," the feminine voice replied. "The rest of us have been ready for a day now."

"Hmm…I suppose time can simply slip so quickly when you are lost in thought, even for me." The first figure nudged the door open and walked out his chambers, alongside the second figure. A triangular glow could suddenly be seen forming on the first figure's forehead, and the door behind him glowed and closed shut on its own. "I'm surprised you hadn't sent Photon to retrieve me, if I was taking too long."

"He had wanted to, but I insisted on getting you," the second figure replied. "I wanted to have one last talk, before we disband."

The first figure sighed hard. "I do not understand how you and the others are able to say that so nonchalantly. Does none of this concern you the slightest, Andromeda?"

The second figure, 'Andromeda', turned and looked the other figure in the eye. "I wish nothing more than to prevent this from happening, Omega, but you have seen first-hand what has been going on between the six of us. We have all been at each other's throats, ever since that war."

Omega huffed at Andromeda's words. "Ether certainly did not help with any of this—that is for sure."

Andromeda gave Omega a stern look. "You know as well as I do that you are the most to blame." Her voice never lost its calming touch, but it could still have a strong presence. "Do not attempt to abolish yourself of all blame. You are better than that, Omega—do not let this bitterness and hatred between the rest of us get to you, too."

"I have no bitterness towards any of you," Omega turned his head away, "except for Ether."

"Did you not just hear-"

"He caused that war on his own accord, before I ever did anything to him!" Omega burst out towards Andromeda. "What is happening now, yes, I admit that _all_ the blame should be mine, but it was the war that made me do that! Can you not understand how I was in a fit of rage?"

Andromeda looked taken aback, and Omega, realizing how he'd just acted, took a step back and looked away from her in shame.

"That was a war between the ponies and the phoenixes," Andromeda replied to Omega, "If anyone should be upset about it, it should be you and I; we have every right to be. But unlike you, I had kept a level head."

Omega looked back up to Andromeda. "We should disband as soon as possible," he said finally, realizing just now that there really was no way to keep the Six together.

"Glad to hear you say so," another voice called out, as a third figure rounded a corner at the end of the hallway.

Omega and Andromeda both looked to see the source of the voice, though they already knew who it was. The third figure, unlike the other two, could be seen in the light. Rather, he was seen in the light that he himself gave off. The leopard's spots shone like floodlights in the large empty hallways of the _Genesis_, some of the light shining dully from the rest of his coat hit Omega and Andromeda, dimly revealing what they looked like.

"I should have expected as much," Andromeda said, folding up her blazing-red wings in protest. "I thought I said that I would send for Omega. Next time, try and keep still for a single moment." She playfully pecked the top of his head with her pink-tipped beak.

"Ouch," the leopard said while rubbing his head where he had been hit.

"Even you, Photon," Omega said softly while shaking his head. "You are always in a hurry to get something done, even if said something is the disbanding of the Six?"

"Omega, you've known me for eons now," Photon replied, cocking his eyebrow at Omega. "Light is supposed to be fast, isn't it? It doesn't matter what it is; if there's something that needs to be done, I'll get it done as soon as possible."

"And you must be so fast that you cut and fuse your words together into such gibberish?" Omega asked.

"Hey, if it's faster to say 'you're' instead of 'you are', I'll do it. As long as you know what I'm saying, amiright?"

The other three figures were waiting patiently at the large round table as Omega, Andromeda and Photon made their way back to the Hall of the Six. Eventually, the three came walking down the hallway and into the tall, round room. Rather, Omega and Andromeda walked in—Photon kept running ahead of them, looked back to see their progress, ran back to meet up with them, and repeated the process.

"Back so soon?" the smallest figure sitting at a chair spoke sarcastically in a feminine voice, as the three each took a seat in their own respective chairs.

Omega didn't respond to her remark, so Andromeda retorted in his stead. "He just needed a little more time to let this all sink in," Andromeda replied to the small figure.

"Oh, it is not as if I am angry or anything," the figure replied, "by all means, I will give you all the time you need—it was simply a little joke to liven the mood, but apparently your sense of sarcasm is lacking today."

"Now is not the time for that Corporeal," a loud, winded voice rumbled from the chair next to where the small figure was sitting.

Apparently striking a nerve, 'Corporeal' replied angrily, "How many times must I tell you that I do not like that name! It serves its purpose as a surname, Nexus, and nothing more!"

"Cory, perhaps it's _you_ that doesn't have a sense of humor," Photon smiled to the small shadow, "You think he doesn't know by now what you do and don't like to be called?"

The black, vertical slits in Cory's yellow eyes narrowed and she squinted at Photon, and her tail whipped around in annoyance. "Exactly—he knows I do not like formalities and as such he purposefully annoys me by calling me by my formal name! I know it is a petty thing to argue over, but he always insists on doing so!"

"I think we may be getting off topic here," Omega said to the five in the massive round room. All it took was for Omega to say a single sentence, and the other five immediately shut up and gave him their undivided attention. "Yesterday, we finished off with the naming of Andromeda's Element, yes?"

"Yeah—it was 'Kindness', if I remember correctly," Photon replied. "And then you left abruptly, saying you needed 'a moment'. I'm no less happy about all this as you are—as I'm sure is everyone else—but all you're doing is delaying the inevitable, Omega."

"Yes, well anyways," Omega began, "who is still left?"

"Just me," the breathy voice of 'Nexus' replied.

"Ah, yes, saving the hardest for last," Cory stated. "No offense, Nexus, but there really is no real _definable_ personality that we can assign you—at least, one that would fit with the Elements."

"Before we continue from where we left off," Omega interrupted, "I would like to restate the purpose of our meeting for today."

"Ugh," Photon muttered, "you and procedures, Omega…"

Omega began, "We have unanimously called for this meeting, the final meeting before the disbanding of the Six. As the war had shown, our individual powers were nowhere near as strong as when we combined forces as one. Because of this, the decision has been made to provide the inhabitants of our respective planets—when we populate them, that is—with a collective force of magic from the six of us. A magic that will only unlock its potential to those who display the traits of one or all Elements, is pure of heart, and requires such power as ours in a time of dire need."

"And yesterday we decided on creating the Elements of Harmony," Andromeda continued, "Four sets of six, one set for each of the four members of the Six that will inhabit a satellite which has already been chosen in a previous meeting."

"Yes, and I believe we had named each member's Element except for…Nexus, you said?" Omega asked, trying to recall. "With the naming of Nexus' Element, we will then be able to form the Elements themselves and finally disband. Now then…what is a positive personality trait that best describes you, Nexus…?"

The other Six's faces skewed as they each tried to think of a good word, a good personality, a good _trait_ that one should represent in order to use his power. But trying to tack a descriptive word onto Nexus was hard, to say the least. The only word in general that best described him was…'enigmatic'.

"Well, if no one can think of anything good," Nexus chuckled, "perhaps I should be left out of the Elements all together."

"What? No! You have to, Nexus!" Photon interjected, apparently not sensing the sarcasm in Nexus' voice, "Your magic is the strongest of any of ours—if it's not included in the Elements, we may as well not bother making them!"

"So perhaps you are saying my magic is my strongest trait, hmm?" Nexus asked as he cocked an entertained eyebrow towards the leopard, "Well then, perhaps I should be the '_Element_ of Magic'."

Omega rolled his eyes. Despite being the best of companions for the past few billion years, he never did care for Nexus' sarcasm, or his seemingly flawed logic. "That would require that at least one of the creatures that uses the Elements would have to have a strong magical ability. And what if that is not the case? Then what shall they do?"

"I am sure that an Element of Magic would certainly suffice," Nexus replied, "Just trust me on this one, Omega."

Omega sighed hard. He could tell that even he himself was beginning to feel that same bitterness and hatred that Andromeda spoke of earlier. It was tearing all of them apart, and he needed to finish this entire ordeal as soon as possible. "Fine," Omega said. "We are presented with the new motion to name Nexus' Element as the 'Element of Magic'. All that support?"

The word 'aye' was spoken in unison by all six.

"Those that oppose?"

There was a moment of silence.

"Very well," Omega stated, "motion passed. Now that each of the Six has an assigned Element, we may begin the formation of them. Is everyone ready?" There was a nod from each of the other five. "Then let us begin."

Each of the Six closed their eyes and began focusing hard. They had a massive supply of magic, each one of them, but creating the Elements would still be a challenging feat nonetheless. Suddenly, Omega opened his eyes again, and they shone with a very powerful golden light, the same color as his eyes. Likewise happened for the other five, Andromeda's eyes lighting with a burning yellow, Nexus' a searing green, Cory's a dark yellow, and Photon's so bright you couldn't really tell that there was any color in the leopard's blinding white eyes. Ether, who was sitting in the Hall but had kept to himself the entire time, also joined in, his eyes shining a light yellow, tinted with red. The power emanating in the Hall of the Six was staggering, and they had barely even started.

Omega body, like his eyes, began to glow fiercely. The dark corridors of the _Genesis_ were lit up so bright, any normal being that would have seen such a feat unfolding would have been blinded whether they shielded their eyes or not. In fact, if the _Genesis_ hadn't been in a dimension of its own, the light given off would have easily matched that of a supernova explosion. Each of the Six could easily be seen now in all of their glory. The alicorn Omega stood before each of the other five as he was the first to begin severing a fraction of his own magic from his body. The large winged unicorn's dark blue coat and mane glowed profusely as a kind of magical mist emanated off of him. Next was the phoenix Andromeda, whose own body was not only giving off her magic, but was giving off a heat so strong it bent the very light around it, and would have melted the corridors had it been made of any normal material. Speaking of light, the leopard Photon alone could outshine a thousand suns at this moment as his own magic emitted from his body. Nexus, now clearly seen from being bathed in light, was much noticeably larger than the other five members of the Six; while others were between five, ten feet tall, the massive white dragon Nexus sat at three stories, giving him presence in the large Hall as his magic tugged at everything else around it, the magic altering gravity and trying to compact it into a small point. Cory, in comparison to Nexus, was only a foot-tall black cat, but she was not to be outdone—in fact, she had the most important role in the making of the Elements.

The pure unadulterated energy in the room was distorting the six powers of the universe that the Six controlled. Over the loud noise coming from everything going on, Omega yelled at the top of his lungs to Nexus: "You are up, Nexus!"

With a nod of his aged, slightly-wrinkled face, Nexus took his attention to the magical aura surrounding him and the others, a pure magical essence floating in the air. Nexus focused his mind, and created six separate points of gravity, one in front of each of the Six. The force created was very strong; it began to pull the magic into the points, and formed six compact spheres of magical energy. There was now a glowing orb of light in front of each of the Six.

"I did not actually think that would work…" Cory said to herself in amusement.

"Your turn Cory," Omega spoke to the small black cat. The noise had died down after the orbs were created, leaving a rather eerie silence in the room bathed in the cold white light of the orbs.

"On it," Cory replied as she focused her own energy into each of the six spheres. Her job was perhaps the most difficult one—turning the six orbs of magic into a total of twenty-four. Her specialty was matter—'corporeal' parts of the universe—but what she was trying to work with now was _magic_, an different entity altogether. But she wasn't nervous. If anything, she was excited; despite how Photon acted, it was really Cory that hated procedures and planning things out. She didn't like to think that the other five were a hindrance to her, weighing her down, but she thought so nonetheless. The disbanding of the Six, for her, was going to be an opportunity to try out a new plan, a new idea that she had been saving for a decade now—though compared to how long she and the others had existed in the universe, that really wasn't much time at all.

Cory continued to focus her strength into each of the spheres, but it was taking its toll on her. Clearly struggling, Omega called out to the other four:

"Focus harder! Give to Cory any remaining magic of yours! I know this is draining, but we really do not have a second chance at this!"

Like five backup generators turning on at once, they all rerouted their magic straight into Cory, assisting her in turning the Elements of Harmony into four separate sets. Everyone was becoming exhausted, even Nexus, but they weren't giving up. The power in the room had increased again, and Omega was honestly surprised that the _Genesis_ wasn't being torn apart in the process; it may be a sturdy magical ark hidden within another dimension, but it too has a breaking point.

Just as the members of the Six were beginning to lose hope, the spheres began to grow. Like an amoeba dividing into two separate cells, each of the spheres of magic split into two that were the same size as the original. With a grin, and new motivation, Cory channeled her strength and energy into the twelve spheres, trying to turn them into twenty-four.

The magical energy in the _Genesis_ was reaching ludicrous levels. Despite the connecting point between the ark's dimension and rest of the universe being less than an atom large, energy was spraying out the minute opening like an entire lake reservoir leaking through a pin-sized hole in the wall of a dam. The pillars and walls of the _Genesis_ began to crack just as the two sets of Elements turned into four.

* * *

><p>About one hundred and seventy-five million years later, Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie are eating together outside Sugar Cube Corner.<p> 


	2. Anomaly

Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie were eating together on a table just outside Sugar Cube Corner. The two were catching up on what they've done the past few days, since both had been very busy—Twilight was knee-deep in books, studying up on a few new magic spells while Pinkie and the Cakes were backed up with orders from multiple birthday parties and a class reunion going on about the same time. After eating and talking for about an hour, Twilight and Pinkie began to take a walk around town.

It was about this time when suddenly, out of nowhere, Pinkie began to twitch and shudder, then her body inflated and deflated like a balloon. Twilight could only watch with a look of fear across her face as she realized that Pinkie's "Pinkie Sense" was foretelling a doozy. The spaz attack ended as quickly as it had started, and Pinkie looked to Twilight as she regained her composure. A few other ponies walking the streets had formed a small crowd around the two, and were looking at Pinkie with genuine concern for the pony.

"It's okay, everypony, I'm super-duper! No need to worry!" Pinkie said jubilantly to the now confused group. They all looked at each other, then to her, and then decided to go on their way. Pinkie looked back to Twilight. "Twilight, what do you think that was about?" her expression changed to that of worry, but the happy tone never left her voice.

"I have no idea Pinkie, but that certainly can't be good…" Twilight's voice trailed off as she started to wonder just what the doozy was trying to tell them.

They both started to continue walking, though the happy demeanor about them had changed to confused but calm expressions, and they weren't talking anymore. As they were walking, their thoughts were suddenly interrupted by someone yelling "LOOK OUT!" They had just enough time to turns their heads before the tennis ball connected with Pinkie Pie's face.

Ace came running over in a hurry. "Oh my! Oh no! I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" By this time, Twilight was already giving Pinkie a good once-over, making sure she wasn't bleeding and nothing was broken. Surprisingly, Pinkie started laughing; "That got me smack in the middle of my face, didn't it? That was so funny, the face you made when you turned around, Twilight! But yeah though I gotta say that when I hear somepony yelling 'look out' it probably isn't the best idea to look out at what is coming for you because it's a better idea to duck first although neither of us did that did we it's kinda a gut reaction I guess when you hear somepony yell 'look out' from behind you!" Even more amazing than her light-hearted reaction to being hit in the face was how she was able to say all of that in one breath.

Ace was nervous after seeing that Pinkie's nose was starting to bleed, but was assured several times by the pink pony that she was "okie dokie lokie". Twilight was now simply wondering why he was playing tennis in the middle of Ponyville.

"So, uh, where did my ball go?" Ace said to Pinkie, still regretful for what he had done to her. Pinkie glanced around every which-way, finally giving up and shrugging at him.

"It's over here guys," Twilight said as she spotted the tennis ball peeking just behind a corner. She used her magic to lift the ball over and then moved it toward Ace; as she did, a puzzling look came across her face and she started looking around in the air. Ace took the ball and in his mouth, thanked Twilight, and apologized once more to Pinkie before returning from where he came.

Pinkie was now stuffing a few tissues she'd grabbed from seemingly nowhere into her bleeding nostril. "Hey Twilight, what's the matter? Are you bird watching or something?" she asked the unicorn, noticing she wasn't taking her eyes off the sky. "OH! Hey, Twilight," her mind suddenly changing thoughts, "do you think that that ball face-planting me was the doozy?" She asked Twilight with a look of glee, as if she just solved a mystery that would've stumped Sherlock Whooves.

"Maybe, Pinkie. Maybe." Twilight wasn't even listening as she continued to look around in the air; her horn was now aglow with her magic, but she wasn't using it for anything—she was simply 'emitting' magic from it. Pinkie pouted and growled a little to try and get Twilight's attention. Twilight finally took notice of the pink pony, and she turned to look towards her.

"Oh! Sorry Pinkie. It's just…" she looked up toward the sky and started to emit magic from her horn again, "when I used my magic to lift the ball, I felt a sudden…pull. I can still feel it, actually; I can feel something 'tugging' at my horn when I'm using my magic, and it's tugging it upwards. If only I could pinpoint its location…"

Pinkie sighed as Twilight became lost in her own little world again. The least she could do right now is keep the conversation from dying. "So, you're saying there's a 'magic magnet' hovering over our heads?" She was happy to see the question distract Twilight from what she was doing and she looked back towards her.

"I guess you could put it that way, actually. Hmm, I think it is riiiight up _there_, actually." She motioned towards a spot several feet directly above her. Within that spot was… absolutely nothing. Twilight turned to see Pinkie giving her a questioning look. "What? I'm serious! There's something tugging at my magic right in that spot! If only I could get closer and get a better look-"

Her defense was stopped short as the Pinkie Sense returned with another doozy, now more violent than before and longer lasting. After several seconds of Pinkie's body on the fritz, it finally stopped. The two looked at each other again before looking up at the area of nothing hovering over their heads.

Even more blood was now dripping from Pinkie's tissue-stuffed nostril. The convulsions from the doozy probably ruptured her nasal canal even more; not that Pinkie noticed, or cared. She said cautiously, as if to make sure nobody could hear her, "I think that that magic-magnet above your head-"

"-is the doozy," Twilight finished the sentence, saying it more as a fact than a question. "Perhaps it would be best if we kept our ground and waited for a bit before investigating further. I'm going home to send a letter to Princess Celestia regarding this entire affair. Pinkie, your nose is bleeding a lot right now; please make sure to take care of that when you get home."

"Okie dokie lokie!" said Pinkie as she merrily started hopping back home, completely oblivious to the blood spilling from her nose. Twilight really hoped she'd be okay, not that there is much to worry about when Pinkie is involved.

* * *

><p>Twilight arrived home, ready to get her letter written and sent post-haste. To her surprise, she opened the door to see Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy inside, apparently waiting for her. They both turned to look toward the door, and upon seeing her, Rainbow's face started to show off her annoyance. They'd probably been waiting for a while, which Twilight knows is something Rainbow doesn't like to do.<p>

"Took you long enough! Where the hay have you been?" Rainbow flew up right into Twilight's face as her look of irritation continued.

"Well hello to you to," Twilight greeted her with her own annoyed tone. How was she supposed to have known they were waiting for her? And on that matter… "What can I help you two with?" she said, looking to Fluttershy, then back to Rainbow.

"Do you have any self-confidence spells or something? I've glanced over some of these books, but I don't know what exactly what to look for here…"

"In other words, you don't want to actually _read_ any of them yourself?" Rainbow made a look like she'd been found out, but Twilight changed the subject before she could defend herself. "So why do you want a 'self-confidence' spell anyway? I take it that it's for…"

"Fluttershy needs to start sticking up for herself, and a spell for that would make for a good jump-start!" Of course. Who else would Rainbow want a 'self-confidence' spell for?

"Why are you suddenly taking in interest in whether or not Fluttershy is shy? It's simply a trait—a part of her. That's kind of hard to change." As Twilight said this, she was looking at Fluttershy, hoping that she might speak up and repeat what she'd just said to Rainbow and stop this nonsense.

"We were up in Cloudsdale today, volunteering to assist the pegasi fillies in learning to fly," Rainbow began, "and then Dumbbell and those other good-for-nothing guys started to pick on her! The worst part of it is that she doesn't do anything to stop it, she just waits for their taunts to stop on their own, not like they ever would. I had to intervene to get them to shut up," she turned to Fluttershy, "and _you_ really need to start learning to fight your own battles! _That _is why we came to ask you if you had any spells that could help her in doing that."

Twilight huffed when Rainbow said "_we_ came to ask you", as if she gave Fluttershy an option in learning to express her own opinion. She suddenly remembered that she was on a mission to deliver a letter. She now tried to rush the pegasi out, "I'm sorry, Rainbow, but I don't have anything of the sort that could help out Fluttershy. Now if you two don't mind, I need to deliver an important letter to the Princess. Spike? Spike!"

The purple dragon popped out from above the second floor to see the pony calling his name. His eyelids were droopy; apparently he had been sleeping, despite it being the middle of the day. "Yes, Twilight?" he mumbled.

"I need you to take a letter for the Princess for me."

"Uuggh, do we have to do that NOW?" Spike was tiredly complaining, still only half-awake.

"Actually, yes, we do," Twilight said, matter-of-factly, "I must let the Princess know of this immediately, as I need to know her opinion on the matter."

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were still in the library, watching as Spike trudged out of bed and got ready the paper and quill; Twilight hadn't seemed to take note of their presence as she started to speak, Spike writing down each word she spoke:

"Dear Princess Celestia:

Today, I came across a most unusual portion of magic within Ponyville. I had only taken notice of it after using my own magic while in close proximity to its location. This peculiar speck seemed to have an almost magnetic tug on my horn when I used my magic around it. I was about to inspect it further, but a certain negative omen unnerved me out of doing so." She paused, "Also, in retrospect, I have just remembered that the specific spot where the area exists is the same place where my friends and I had used the Elements of Harmony to defeat Discord; whether that event and the speck are related, I am not sure. If there is anything you know or could tell me about this strange anomaly, I would be much obliged. Your Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle."

She looked to Spike, who was finishing up the letter, having tried to keep up with her speech while he was still groggy. As he was, Twilight was going over the entire letter in her head, trying to remember any other important information…the fact that they vanquished Discord at that spot piqued her interest—perhaps the two events were somehow connected…

"Hey, Equestria to Twilight!" Twilight's train of thought got derailed as she became aware of the two pegasi still in her house. It wasn't that big of a deal that they heard her, but now she's going to be badgered with questions by—

"I _said _HEY!" The cyan pegasus was now knocking her hoof against Twilight's head. "What the heck are you talking about? Magic magnet? I don't understand anything you're talking about."

Twilight sighed and took a deep breath as she started to tell Rainbow and Fluttershy all about the events that had taken place earlier that morning…

* * *

><p>"Oh my! Is Pinkie going to be okay?" Fluttershy's words of concern were the first words out of her mouth for the past hour. "She sounds like she was really hurt…"<p>

"Oh, don't worry about her, Pinkie's always great and in her happy-go-lucky mood." Surprisingly, it was Rainbow that comforted Fluttershy this time. She immediately turned back to Twilight though as she was preparing to ask her for more detail about this "magic magnet".

"First off," Twilight cut off Rainbow, "I have absolutely no idea what to make of this entire ordeal involving this weird magical entity. My best guess is that it is related to our use of the Elements of Harmony in defeating Discord. If anything, it was probably created at that time. Second," her brow furrowed as she said this, "why do all of you keep referring to it as a 'magic magnet'? It's not like it is a literal magnet, it's just that I can feel a pull from it when my magic is being used."

"Umm, Twilight?" Fluttershy looked nervous as she picked her words carefully, apparently not wanting to upset the unicorn, not that she would. "Shouldn't somepony have noticed this 'speck' by now? It's been a year since we defeated that big meanie, and if that's when it was created-"

"-Then there's no way another unicorn couldn't have noticed it by now either! You unicorns are always using your magic, so somepony at some point should have felt the tug, too!" Rainbow finished Fluttershy's sentence. Apparently, Fluttershy was taking too long to talk.

"The tug from that speck was extremely weak, I wouldn't be surprised if nopony else has felt it. I mean, not to toot my horn (no pun intended), but my magic is significantly more powerful than that of other unicorns in Canterlot, much less those in Ponyville." She looked over to the two pegasi again, adding, "no offense, of course."

"What would I care about what you think of unicorns or Ponyville residents? As long as you don't bully or make fun of them—I'm a pegasus, native to Cloudsdale, remember?"

"Nonetheless, I can confidently say that the only reason nopony else has felt it is because their magic wasn't strong enough to." Twilight concluded, still feeling guilty over her belittling statement, her mind mainly thinking of Ponyville unicorn resident Rarity.

"So then, are we going to go investigate that speck or what?" Rainbow was met with looks of confusion from both Twilight and Fluttershy. "Come _on_, I don't wanna just sit here doing nothing! Besides, with no confidence spell for Fluttershy, my agenda for today is pretty clear."

"Just because you don't have your 'jump-start' doesn't mean you can't teach her anything at all." Twilight stated dryly, now realizing that she didn't _want_ to teach her if she didn't get any assistance from an outside source. Suddenly remembering Rainbow's question before that last statement, shock fell back into her face. "And are you nuts! We aren't going to investigate that speck if we have neither information nor permission from the Princess!" Twilight was starting to become huffy.

"Have you noticed that we've been waiting for a response from the Princess for half an hour now? And why would we need permission on something we've never been denied access to? This weird speck thingy isn't going to figure itself out! You can come along if you want, but I'm going to investigate RIGHT NOW." Without even waiting for a response, Rainbow bolted out the window, going in the general direction of where the speck was.

"For crying out loud, Rainbow!" Twilight was starting to run out the door after her, "do you remember that Pinkie's sense predicted a doozy!" she now had to yell in the middle of the street in order for her to hopefully be heard by the pegasus speeding away in the sky, "THIS ISN'T A GOOD IDEA! GET BACK HERE! RAINBOW DASH!"

"Oh my" was all Fluttershy whispered as she went out the door after the other two ponies.

Spike was in bed sleeping, having crawled back in immediately after having written and sent Twilight's letter. He was happily dreaming, his sleep undisturbed, not having to magically belch a response letter from Princess Celestia.


	3. Cold Steel

Twilight was trying to catch her breath after having lost sight of Rainbow. She wasn't in too much of a hurry—it's not like Rainbow knows where the speck is, anyway, and she couldn't scope it out using magic since she wasn't a unicorn. As Twilight was regaining her energy, she noticed a pale-yellow, pink-haired pegasus trotting towards her.

"Oh my. Twilight, are you alright?" Fluttershy had been keeping her pace, so she wasn't winded like her unicorn friend was.

"I'm fine Fluttershy, just catching my breath." She spoke her words between pants. "That Rainbow Dash…sometime, I swear her curiosity and hard-headedness will bring the end of us." Twilight's attention moved toward the direction she last saw the flying cyan pony.

"Don't say things like that, Twilight. We all have those little things that make us who we are; sometimes those little things aren't the best parts about us, but there are plenty of other nice, good things that make up for it!" she smiled to Twilight, who was now feeling much better, both physically and emotionally.

Regaining her composure, Twilight returned the smile to Fluttershy, and looked back in Rainbow's direction with a look of determination.

"Okay, Fluttershy. This time, I'm going to teleport over there, bit by bit. Think you can keep up and keep an eye on me in the sky as I go?"

Fluttershy really preferred not to fly, despite her being a pegasus, but she nodded to Twilight; she'd go out of her comfort zone if it meant it'd be easier for her friend. She took to the sky and followed Twilight as she teleported in and out on the main road, going a couple dozen feet forward each time.

Twilight eventually reached the area containing the speck. She knew she was there as she felt the small tug on her horn when she teleported within its range. Fluttershy landed next to her a few seconds afterward. They both took notice that Rainbow wasn't there.

"As I guessed, she didn't find it." Twilight stated. She then sighed, "Actually, come to think of it, there really was no reason to come all the way here, seeing as how Rainbow wouldn't find it, anyway."

Fear suddenly overcame Fluttershy's face. "U-unless she _did_ find it, and then it…it… ATE HER!"

Twilight cocked an eyebrow as she turned to look at Fluttershy. "It 'ate her'? I didn't realize you could be so paranoid, Fluttershy." She then turned to look back at the invisible dot in the air. "Although, I don't know about 'eating' anypony, but perhaps it could…I dunno, teleport somepony somewhere else when coming into contact with it." She was startled by a small yelp from behind her. "But it's highly unlikely, I mean, technically speaking; it wouldn't even make sense for that to happen." She tried to comfort the now-trembling pegasus; the words of comfort were a lie, though, as Twilight seriously considered whether or not the speck could become a portal.

Thankfully, Rainbow Dash came flying in from overhead, greeting the two. Fluttershy's face of fear left, but she was still trembling a bit, still recovering from the thought that she may have just lost one of her best friends.

"Thank Celestia you two showed up! I had no clue where the hay I was going…OW!" Her sentence was stopped short when a sudden jolt of pain hit her at the base of her right wing as she was descending; Twilight and Fluttershy were frightened when they even saw a spark form and bounce off of the spot where she was hurt. "What the hay was THAT?"

"Rainbow, move away from that spot RIGHT NOW!" The commanding tone in Twilight's voice made Rainbow obey without a second thought, and she landed on the ground next to a now very stoic Twilight and scared Fluttershy. "That spark just now, that happened when the base of your wing came into direct contact with the speck."

"It did!" Rainbow seemed very concerned about having touched it, despite having been the one who was seeking it out in the first place. She glanced to her right wing; the whole thing was fine, intact, and without any sign of damage from what had just happened. Now more confident, and aware of the speck's location, she flew back up near it.

"Be careful…" said Twilight as she watched Rainbow investigate it further; half her mind was yelling at her to tell Rainbow to stop at once, after seeing what had just happened, but the other half wanted Rainbow to continue what she was doing, after seeing what had just happened. Fluttershy was simply too scared to say anything, and hid behind Twilight, unsure of what was about to happen next.

Rainbow stuck out her hoof, just in front of where she thought the speck was, using a nearby sign hanging down as a reference. She looked to Twilight, who simply nodded, confirming that the speck was where she thought it was. Rainbow then stuck her hoof out more, past the speck, into the speck.

Nothing happened.

Confused, Rainbow now started to swing her arm around through the speck. She then stuck her nose into it, and then started to move her head through it, making sure it came into contact with most parts of her head. Dumbfounded, she decided to touch it with her wing again.

Another spark appeared, this time larger, brighter, and more painful on Rainbow's wing. She immediately went back to the ground, recovering from the harder blow. Twilight was still trying to make sense of all this.

"Why does it only spark when it touches my wings? And—OW—why does it spark in the first place?" Again, Rainbow showed no physical signs of injury, and recovered from the pain quickly. She looked to Twilight Sparkle, who appeared now know what was happening.

"Well," Twilight started, "it appears that it only reacts to other sources of magic; that's why it only reacted with your wings."

"Uh, what are you talking about? It's not like I can use my wings like a unicorn uses her horn. These babies are meant for me to fly." To prove such, Rainbow stretched out and fluttered her wings to Twilight.

"Exactly." Twilight stated to Rainbow. She received questioning looks from both Rainbow and Fluttershy; apparently neither of them knew anatomy nor physics very well. Twilight sighed, "Do you honestly think that you would be able to fly with those wings were it not for magic? We're ponies, and ponies' bodies are not well-suited for flight. What allows pegasi to fly is their own, special brand of magic within their wings that activates automatically; it's an instinct from birth, and when you want to fly, the special magic in your wings allows you to. Besides, how else do you explain how only pegasi can stand on clouds?" She could see that Fluttershy understood, but Rainbow still had a mild look of confusion. "Magic," Twilight concluded as she snorted a couple times, rather disappointed that Rainbow didn't understand how her own wings worked. But then again, neither had Fluttershy; Twilight had learned this as a filly in Canterlot—could they really not be teaching this in Cloudsdale?

"So, because of that," Fluttershy was trying her best to put together everything she just learned, "this 'speck' only reacts to other sources of magic," she stated, repeating Twilight's earlier words.

"Well if that's the case, let's see what happens when it touches Twilight's horn!" Rainbow made a move to lift up Twilight, but stopped dead when she received a very cold look from her.

"Pegasus magic is very latent, and doesn't show itself much even when in use. If THAT is how the speck reacts to such a dormant presence of magic, do you have any idea what would happen if it touched the horn of a unicorn, much less my own?"

"No. That's why I wanna find out." Rainbow stated plainly.

Twilight was now becoming rather interested in what would happen as well. She knew it was a horrible idea, she also realized that the pain Rainbow felt could be nothing compared to what she may feel upon touching that speck with her horn. It really would be best if she waited for a letter from the Princess further regarding this issue. If anything, she could send Celestia the info she had just learned about the…small sphere, floating right where the speck should be.

"Um" was all Twilight could say. This wasn't good. The contact with Rainbow's wings only twice had apparently…what…activated it? It didn't appear to be growing at all, but it certainly was peculiar; she could see it quite clearly now, despite it only being a couple inches in diameter and floating several feet off the ground.

It was a perfect sphere, appearing to be made out of metal, and at the same time it was very translucent. The surface of the sphere shone a perfectly reflected view of them and the area around them, but the image was also flipped upside-down, much like when you look at yourself in the inward curve of a spoon. The sphere didn't waver, didn't shake, and didn't move— it was in perfect equilibrium.

Was it really a good idea to leave now? The sphere wasn't very noticeable where it was, and the spot they were in right now what a small street branching off from the main one, but Twilight didn't want to risk having some curious pony touching it. Now, she had to see this through from start to finish.

"Hoist me up, Rainbow," Twilight said to the shocked pegasus. Without a single question, Rainbow lifted Twilight by her armpits with her hooves and brought her face-to-face with the see-through, metallic, enigmatic ball. As she did, she activated her magic, her horn starting to glow a faint purple aura. She could feel the pull from the "magic magnet" again, but this time it was MUCH more powerful; not because she was so close to it, but because what was once an atom-sized dot was now a two-inch-wide orb of clear metal. Hesitating, she finally stopped pulling back against the force of the ball, now letting her horn move inward to it, the tip of her horn touching the very surface of it.

Suddenly, there was a massive burst of light, and the spark that emitted from the sphere entered Twilight's head and jolted its way down her spine, temporarily paralyzing her. Rainbow started moving away as quickly as she could, a numb Twilight in tow, but the sphere suddenly and almost instantaneously grew over thirty times wider than its initial two inches. As it spread out, it also solidified; now no longer translucent, it was a simple massive metallic ball floating in midair. Rainbow realized that she couldn't pull Twilight away anymore, and turned to look, in horror, that part of Twilight's leg was inside the sphere, making the smallest ripple in its surface, as if the metal ball were made of water. Fluttershy's adrenaline was pumping now, and without a second thought flew up to assist Rainbow right in front of the menacing sphere. No matter how hard the two pulled though, Twilight's leg wouldn't budge outward. They both took a split second of a break, each giving a little slack, to which Twilight was pulled in a few inches further. They immediately started to pull back again.

As Twilight was starting to regain control of her body from the momentary paralysis, she noted how much pain her right leg was in now—not because of the sphere engulfing it, but because of the two pegasi yanking her out of the joint in her knee. She met this newfound pain with a loud cry of agony.

"Girls, please stop!" she yelled to her friends, holding back tears of pain. Rainbow and Fluttershy immediately stopped pulling, and Twilight sunk into the sphere a few more inches. She tried to use her magic to teleport her out, but all she felt was the sphere absorbing it, and increasing in size, gaining even a few more inches around her. "My leg! You have to stop trying to pull me out! I'm stuck, and there's only one way to go now!" She turned to face the malevolent ball of metal, and it returned her look with her own face, only flipped upside-down.

"NO! Don't give up, Twilight! We can still get you out of there! If all else fails, we…we could saw off your leg!" Rainbow regretted saying that, as she was given a look of fear and disgust by Twilight, who obviously didn't take well to the thought of that.

"There is no other way, Rainbow," the tears were now streaming from her eyes. What had she done? Why was this happening? Why hadn't she just waited for Celestia's letter? Just this morning, she was eating cupcakes with Pinkie Pie in the Sugar Cube Corner. Now, she was facing potential death that loomed on the opposite side of this metallic menace. She tried to calm her mind. Hopefully, this _was_ a portal, and though she hoped that it didn't send her to some faraway land from Equestria, it was a better prospect then death. "I brought this upon myself, and I must face the consequences. I'm going inside."

At that, she let go of her friends and fell inwards, slipping past and into the surface of the sphere.

Tears were now upon Rainbow's face as well, staring into her own inverted reflection. Then, a look of determination replaced that of sadness. Fluttershy, adrenaline still flowing freely, happened to notice her friend's change of face, and she too became overwhelmed with a sense of necessary heroism as she prepared to face this metal piece of crap head-on.

"THEN YOU'RE TAKING ME WITH YOU!" they both screamed as they dove into the sphere.


	4. Third Rock from the Sun

He awoke to the sound of his alarm clock beeping in that constant, annoyingly rhythmic pattern of beeps. It's so annoyingly rhythmic, in fact, that it never fails to wake him up in the morning. Pierce Faraday groaned as he slowly got out of bed, holding his head in his hands. Finally getting the strength to stand up, he walked over to the other side of his bedroom and smacked the off button on the alarm clock. A thought hit him, and a goofy grin came across his face. 'It's Friday', he thought to himself, 'and Saturday is tomorrow, which means…' he shot his fist into the air as he said aloud (albeit in a quiet voice), "New episode of MLP!"

With a happy thought in his head, he was able to more easily get dressed and go downstairs to eat breakfast. After finishing his morning routine, he put on his jacket backpack and went outside to wait for the bus. It was the middle of autumn, but the temperature was forty degrees; Figures, he mused, Wisconsin may as well be friggin' south Canada.

If he actually had a driver's license though, he wouldn't have to complain about waiting in frigid temperatures for a school bus. Seventeen and he still didn't have a license; the reason being that he didn't have much motivation for…well…anything, plus the fact that he has quite the lead foot. Hell, the learner's permit he got as a freshman expired half a year ago, and he never renewed it because of 'financial reasons' (it was between renewing the permit or buying the new Pokémon White Version).

When waiting for the bus, he stood on the end of his neighbor's driveway so that the side of the bus with the doors would be on his side, and he wouldn't have to walk around the bus every day. From this vantage point, he had a perfect view of his (or rather, his parent's) house. Since there wasn't much else to look at in a suburban neighborhood, he simply stared at the house until the bus came around the corner.

Today, though, he happened to notice as he was staring at the house a flash of light that seemed to have appeared right in his back yard.

Wanting to investigate, he started for the house, only to see the bus coming around the corner. He sighed and returned to the driveway, concluding to himself that it was simply somebody lighting off some kind of fireworks. Not that that made much sense, given the weather, the time, the year. In fact…

"For God's sake Pierce, you over-analyze frickin' everything…" he stopped talking aloud to himself once the bus finally rolled up next to him. He didn't want people thinking he was some kind of crazy person that talks to himself, although that's exactly what he's doing right now. Ugh, again with the over-analyzing…

* * *

><p>"I can't wait until tomorrow!" Pierce said to his friends sitting at the table with him; he wanted them to guess, not that there was any doubt as to what it is—his friends knew the routine.<p>

"Is it goddamn 'My Little Pony'?" Connor asked with a tone in his voice that messaged a combo of "What the hell is wrong with you" and "You are freaking hilarious". Pierce nodded his head enthusiastically, wearing the same goofy grin as he did that morning. The large ball of curly hair on his head bobbed with his nodding.

"Dude, you've gotta cut off the jewfro," Phil said plainly.

"It's not a frickin' jewfro, alright?" Pierce did get annoyed at the mention of his bushy hair supposedly being a 'jewfro', but it's not like it really got under his skin. In fact, he never really held grudges, nor hated a certain person, place, or video game for more than five minutes. According to the psychology class he's been taking, he is a "Type B" person—they are laid back, calm, and don't worry about things too much. Of course this can be a very bad thing for a high school student…

"Hey, did you finish that project for astronomy class?" Connor questioned Pierce; the look on his face said that he already knew the answer.

"Not yet-"

"My God man! You know that was due LAST TUESDAY, right?"

"I have until Monday to make up for it, you know." Pierce retorted

"So that means you're going to start it _Sunday night_?" Phil asked; he seemed to act like he knew the answer already, too.

"Probably," Pierce said without the slightest bit of guilt or shame.

He looked on as both of his friends facepalmed themselves, sincerely hoping, for Pierce's sake, that he starts working on it ASAP.

* * *

><p>"It's been a long day, but now I can finally have the weekend to myself," Pierce said to himself as he got off the bus, the school week now over.<p>

As he neared the door to the garage of his house, he thought he heard something inside. He started to wonder why he heard people talking inside. 'Is my dad talking with people inside? Wait, no, he should still be at work today. What's going on?' Pierce was starting to freak out, not sure of what to do, so he felt that the best idea right now was to try and listen in on what was being said.

"She's really sick! We have to find somepony that's a doctor, or at least has some kind of medical experience!" a voice said.

'Somepony'? Pierce recognized that voice…

"Rainbow, I don't think this place _has_ any other ponies, not any sentient ones, at least…"

Pierce _knew_ that voice, he knew it very well, in fact. It was the voice of his favorite pony, after all, but... why is someone impersonating Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash? A better question is, why are they in his garage?

Anything that could be used as a weapon was inside the garage. Pierce looked around, and noticed a metal sign warning trespassers that 'they will be shot' that had been placed just outside the house by his dad. He picked the sign up out of the ground, gave it a practice swing, and, after finding the sign fit his standards as a weapon for bludgeoning, started to slowly turn the knob on the garage door.

"STOP RIGHT THERE, CRIMINAL SCUM!" he yelled with all his might as he kicked the door open and charged into the garage, clinging nervously onto his sign. The 'criminals' froze, but so did Pierce, at what he saw.

Ponies. There were three ponies in his garage. Not just any ponies, but neon-colored, big-eyed, talking ponies. One was a purple unicorn, the other two had wings, one cyan and the other a pale yellow. The unicorn and the cyan pegasus were standing next to a mattress that once was Pierce's, but was tossed into the garage after he recently got a new one. On that mattress lay the yellow pegasus, eyes closed; she looked like she was asleep, but had a look of pain on her face.

The two ponies and the human were frozen in place, each staring at the other for a good minute; Twilight and Rainbow were frozen in fear of the strange bipedal creature wielding a sign, and Pierce was frozen in shock of seeing characters from his favorite television show right before his eyes.

Pierce was the first to break the silence, "Twilight Sparkle?" he asked questioningly to the purple unicorn. Twilight seemed rather taken aback that this creature somehow knew her name.

"Uh, Twilight, do know this guy?" Rainbow said to Twilight, but didn't take her eyes off of Pierce. She could see out the corner of her eye that Twilight shook her head.

Pierce didn't know what to think now. Is this real life? Is he asleep? This feels all too real to be a dream. Though he didn't understand anything going on, he decided the best thing to do right now is to simply accept the fact that there are living breathing My Little Ponies in his garage, and to just go along with whatever the hell is going on.

He finally turned his attention to Fluttershy, who was breathing short, shallow breaths, and her face was very flushed. His shock turned into extreme worry, and his face showed it. When Twilight and Rainbow saw this, they lowered their guard, but still didn't take their eyes off him.

"Is Fluttershy alright?" Pierce asked, looking to each of the healthy ponies for an answer. Twilight and Rainbow looked to each other, confused at how this thing knew who they were. But now was a time of emergency, and they decided to simply accept the fact that there was a weird two-legged creature that somehow knew who they were; besides, perhaps he could help them.

"I think the cold weather got to her, or maybe her immune system isn't working properly." Rainbow looked to Twilight as she said the second part of her sentence, apparently wondering whether or not she got that right.

Twilight shook her head, "We think this dimension has some sickness that her immune system isn't adapted to, which I think is weird, seeing as how she lives with so many animals…"

"So where are Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Applejack? Are they out looking for help?" Pierce became worried after realizing this. What if they unknowingly went out into the human world and were seen?

"What? No. How do you know about them!" Rainbow started raising her voice, then calmed when Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder and pointed over to the resting Pegasus, implying she keep her voice down.

"That will be explained in good time, hopefully along with how the hell you three got here in the first place. Follow me; we're going to go inside the house where it's warmer." Pierce was very worried. He was bringing three ponies into the house—how long could he keep that secret?

Pierce assisted Twilight and Rainbow in picking up the limp Fluttershy and they struggled to bring her to the door into the house. Pierce grabbed a key from his pocket and unlocked the door. A thought hit him, and he turned to ask Twilight, "Twilight, can't you just lift Fluttershy with your magic?"

Twilight looked very glum as she said to Pierce, "Magic doesn't work here. We've tried, and nothing works, at all."

Rainbow fluttered her wings to Pierce as she added, "The magic in my wings won't work, either! I can't fly, and it's killing me!"

Pierce was more disappointed by this news than he was surprised. "Well, I suppose that even you guys have to abide by our laws of physics." Pierce should know—he was a man of science. Rather, he loved physics in particular; he absolutely hated the 'life sciences' of biology, and wasn't too well-read with chemistry since he was just taking his first chemistry class this year. But physics; he knew it all too well (or at least liked to believe he did) and loved to apply it to everyday events, finding out how, why, or could an object do certain things under certain circumstances. Ponies that fly, and use magic to lift objects and create moustaches out of thin air? That completely defied physics, so it only makes sense that magic didn't work in this world.

After getting Fluttershy through the doorway and into the warm house, they started walking her upstairs, the ponies following Pierce's instruction, and were led into his bedroom. Fluttershy was placed onto Pierce's bed, still breathing in small shallow breaths.

Pierce fell to the floor as he now had a chance to recollect his thoughts. As far as he was concerned, this wasn't a dream, and he had to accept that he had the issue of keeping these ponies a secret on his hands. By a stroke of luck, both his parents were going to go on vacation for the entire weekend, giving him the whole house to himself, and three ponies.

First matter on the agenda is to cure Fluttershy. He really wanted to know what these ponies were doing here, and he figured they had a few questions themselves for him, but all that would have to wait. Pierce was no doctor, much less a vet. This wasn't even a real pony, so how did anatomy and biology factor into this?

Twilight stared at the unconscious Fluttershy, unsure of what to do. It was her fault that they had gotten into this mess—if only she hadn't let her curiosity get the better of her! Why did Rainbow and Fluttershy follow her into that sphere, sacrificing themselves to whatever may have lain ahead? And why had it sent them into this strange world? And what was this creature that had invited them into his house, and apparently knew who she and her friends were?

Questions were spinning around inside everyone's heads. Rainbow broke the silence with a question directed towards Pierce, "Do you have any medicine that could help her?"

Pierce looked up and met the pegasus' magenta eyes. She was very worried about Fluttershy, and now they were relying on _him_ to bring her back to full health. Unfortunately, he hadn't the slightest clue of what to do next. "We have different types of vitamins and pills, but I doubt they would help. Also, I don't know what the dosage would even be for a pony." Pierce felt guilt strike his heart has he saw the sad expression on Rainbow's face deepen.

Now there was nothing to do but wait. Wait and hope a miracle arrives. As they waited, Twilight felt it was about time for some answers.

"Okay, I have a load of questions for you," she turned her attention to the non-pony in the room. "First things first, introduce yourself, please."

The room went silent for Pierce to begin; even the heavy pants of Fluttershy became lighter.

"Well, I am a species that most call a 'human', a non-magical bipedal creature. We humans are the predominant species on this planet, the planet Earth." He paused for a moment and looked up at the ceiling. "As such, we are also the only sentient beings, but there are plenty of other animals that live here in this world." After getting the info about where they were and what he was, he now introduced himself, "My name is Pierce Faraday, and I am a resident of the United States of America, a country that runs under a democracy here on Earth." He only hoped at least Twilight understood what he was talking about.

"Okay," Rainbow began to interject, "now we know where we are. I guess. But how did you know who each of us were? We live in, like, a totally different dimension or something."

This was going to be the hardest part for Pierce to explain. He was unsure how to go about dropping such a bombshell on Twilight and Rainbow—being told you're a cartoon in a fictional show intended for little girls isn't exactly something that goes down well.

"I…am a 'brony'," Pierce began, deciding this was the best way to start it off, "a 'brony' is a grown man who watches the television show 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic'; the show follows the exploits of six ponies living in Ponyville, and the different adventures they have as they discover the magic of friendship." He paused again, and looked straight at the ponies, "These ponies are Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rarity." Finished, he looked to Twilight and Rainbow, waiting for a response.

The two ponies could only stare blankly at him. A television show for little girls, here in this human world? Is this some sort of sick joke? Was someone documenting their lives and turning it into a show for humans to watch as entertainment?

"I know this is hard to understand; frankly, I don't understand it myself, but all we can do now is try and figure out the how's and the why's to all these strange questions." Pierce tried to comfort them, but to little avail. He felt it was best that he give them time alone to comprehend what they had just been told, and he got up and left his room, closing the door behind him.


	5. Confusion

*Author's Note: FYI, I currently have about a dozen chapters already completed, and I will be posting a new chapter every day or two until I run out of finished ones. Also, thanks to Jayswing103 and Solrac III for my first two (positive) reviews!*

"'…If there is anything you know or could tell me about this strange anomaly, I would be much obliged. Your Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle.'"

Celestia finished reading the letter to Luna. Luna was already deep in thought, the same look on her face as Celestia had the first time she had read the letter herself.

Luna began to speak to her sister, "I suspect you believe that this 'speck' that Twilight speaks of is similar to the spark that is within Canterlot Castle?"

Celestia nodded, "What I find the most interesting is the possibility that the Elements of Harmony are what created it."

"This is most peculiar, sister. I think I shall go and investigate this so-called speck myself and see if it shares any similarities with the spark in the castle.

As Luna started for the exit, she stopped short upon seeing a burst of green flame appear in front of Celestia, transforming a second later into a red scroll. This caught both the alicorn's eyes; a red letter was only used to tell of an emergency. Both Celestia and Luna assumed the worst—that the emergency was related to the magical 'speck' Twilight had discovered an hour ago. Luna watched nervously as she saw Celestia's face become more and more grim the farther down she read the letter, her worst fear being realized.

* * *

><p>Princesses Celestia and Luna charged into the throne room, looking to the four guard pegasi that always kept watch there, whether a princess was there or not. Despite their normally neutral and unwavering faces and stances, Celestia's face of panic rose fear into the pits of their stomachs. Celestia turned to see Blanc Shimmer in the room, who was Head Captain of Canterlot's Pegasi Division. He himself looked a lot like the rest of the pegasi guards—a completely white pegasus, though even his mane was a shimmering tinge of white. "Oh, good, Blanc, I was just about to search for you. I need Ponyville in lockdown; I will give you coordinates in a second, and all ponies within a hundred yards of that point must be evacuated, <em>no questions asked<em>. Each resident needs to be questioned, and all that witnessed even a quick glance of what happened to Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, or Fluttershy must _immediately_ be sent here to Canterlot Castle via royal escort. Do you understand all that I've just told you?" Celestia gave the entire order without skipping a beat. She was keeping her cool, but was obviously in distress; it made Blanc uncomfortable.

"Crystal clear, your highness. I will scramble all available guards immediately." At this, Blanc took off, two of the other three pegasi following him, leaving one of the guards to keep watch in the throne room. He was happy that he was about to get into some action, but the haste in Celestia's voice had really unnerved him. That wasn't like the Princess. She had mentioned 'Twilight Sparkle'—he had remembered seeing that unicorn around the Castle before. What had happened to her to make the princess freak out like that?

Luna again started for the door. "Sister, I feel I should continue with my previous plan to investigate—it will most likely help with our investigation into what has happened," she paused, then looked back to her sister, "Er, I didn't read the letter, what exactly _did_ happen?" she asked.

Celestia looked over to her, then back to the letter she was levitating near her face. "I'm not sure, as this letter has apparently come from a frenzied Spike. All I know is that 'Twilight, Rainbow and Fluttershy vanished into a big metal ball floating in town, and the ball disappeared a moment later. Nopony knows what the heck has just happened.'"

* * *

><p>Derpy Hooves was unsure of just what was going on. She knew this had something to do with the weird metal ball thing that she saw two ponies enter earlier, but what she didn't understand was why she was being held in the castle, seemingly against her will. It was still morning, and she did have a mail route to finish, after all.<p>

She glanced around the room she was in; royal banisters, stained-glass windows, snug fuzzy rugs…and about only two dozen other ponies, besides her. Being one of the only mail-mares for Ponyville, she was able to recognize every single one of them. She had also recognized the two ponies she saw go into the metal ball as Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy; she was very worried about their safety and well-being, especially after the entire hysterical episode that followed suit in Ponyville. Rose, Lily and Daisy's hysterical screaming hadn't helped the situation, either. They hadn't even seen what happened, only heard immediately afterward that a metal ball swallowed up three ponies. Wait, three? She only saw two…

Giving the crowd another once-over, she saw over in a corner of the room was Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie, whose nose was stuffed with tissue (not really sure why…). Derpy knew everypony like the back of her hoof, and knew that Rainbow and Fluttershy were best friends with those other three mares. But where was Twilight Sparkle? Derpy was surprised that the studious unicorn wasn't here with the rest of her friends, but she wasn't one to judge others; perhaps she didn't get the memo, or was out of town. Unless…three ponies…

After having been waiting for about twenty minutes, Derpy noticed Princess Luna entering the room, being greeted with humble bows by each of the ponies. Derpy forgot for a moment that she should bow too and hurriedly bowed her head, knocking her face on the floor by accident.

"CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE," Luna was using her 'Royal Canterlot Voice' to ensure that everyone in the room heard her, but then she coughed a bit and decided to simply raise her voice normally, "it has come to our attention that an incident has occurred this afternoon within the center of Ponyville, ending with the disappearances of Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy."

So Twilight _was _also caught in there, Derpy thought to herself quietly. She had thought that she may have seen another pony with the two pegasi, but she wasn't able to tell from her vantage point. Luna continued, "You each have been summoned here in order to provide a detailed account of what you have witnessed regarding this affair. Even the most trivial of information can potentially be advantageous for our investigative efforts. We shall request each pony to separately come with us and answer questions. Please bear with us as we attempt to work everything out."

Luna left the room, and Blanc entered right after her. He looked at a list he was carrying with him, and called out for 'Bluegrass'; a colt moved forward from the small crowd and followed Blanc into another room.

Derpy decided to go toward the three mares whose friends were now missing. She greeted them with a happy, but solemn, 'hello'.

"Why hello there, Derpy darling," Rarity began attempting to casually mingle, despite the sadness and fear going through her head, "I haven't seen you for a couple of weeks; how is your life as a mail-mare going?"

"It's going great Rarity, thank you for asking." She paused in thought for a moment, "Actually, you haven't gotten any new packages recently, have you? I'm kinda surprised; usually I'm delivering a box of some supplies or fabric to you every other day." Derpy was also doing her best to lighten the situation.

"Yes, well, now that I've finished all the orders for the Equestria Fashion Pageant, I felt that I deserved a much-needed vacation from work; besides, I looked like a train-wreck by the time I finished the last dress. I needed one week alone of constant spa treatment to regain half the glory and splendor I used to have!"

The already small crowd became smaller and smaller as each pony was individually called up to the room. Derpy talked with Pinkie, Applejack and Rarity the entire time, all of them trying to keep their minds off of the subject everyone was thinking about. Eventually, there was no one left in the room except for the four of them.

"So did you guys see what happened to them, too?" Derpy asked.

"Actually, no. We were all far from the spot a' the incident, doin' our own diff'ernt things; we were still asked ta come here by Princess Celestia, though." Applejack replied.

"Derpy Hooves," Blanc read from the list as he exited the room, along with another pony that was done with questioning. Blanc looked up to see that Derpy was the last one on the list that hasn't been questioned yet, and then noticed the other three ponies with her. "Once I'm done with her, I would like for you three to come inside with me, okay?" Blanc said to the group, minus Derpy.

Rarity spoke up to Blanc, "Would it matter if we went in with Derpy?"

"Uh, I suppose not, as long as she doesn't have a problem with it," he pointed a hoof at Derpy, who only shook her head, "okay, then, everypony come along inside."

* * *

><p>Derpy began giving one of the more detailed accounts of the incident. Having been the only pony that was in the sky to witness it, her vantage point gave a few new pieces of information for Blanc, who had become the head of the investigation, not that he really enjoyed the position. He had been hoping to get into some physical action from this so-called 'emergency'—detective work was the kind of thing for Dreamcatcher or Iron Crusher anyways, not a rip-roaring pegasus like him. But Iron was out on a diplomatic affair with Stalliongrad, and Dreamcatcher was…what was she doing? Heck, whatever it is, it certainly can't be as important as this; she was probably still being a social outcast, practicing up on some new crazy spell she didn't even need to know. Why the hay was he doing this crap and not her? Meh, what's it matter—he wasn't going to get anywhere by complaining…<p>

Derpy told all about how she heard a loud electrical shock-like noise, and then looked down to see a big ball of metal expand next to Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, who appeared to be holding onto something else that was sort of inside the ball. After a few seconds, the object went completely inside, followed immediately by Rainbow and Fluttershy diving in through its metallic surface; then the ball shrunk back down into nothing.

This was all a shock for Pinkie, Rarity and Applejack; this was the first account they've heard of what actually happened. Nobody said a word as Blanc finished writing down what Derpy had said, and then started writing his own summary for the princesses, based on all the info he had learned from each witness.

Several minutes passed of solemn silence. Blanc hadn't spoken a word to the other three ponies in the room, despite that he apparently had wanted to speak with them earlier. Applejack assumed he was going to tell them the story from what he had learned, but no longer had the need when they heard Derpy's testimony.

Blanc suddenly stood up, gathered his papers, and motioned to the door. "Derpy Hooves, you may leave now. You three follow me; we're going to go see the Princess." Derpy looked to the other three—she wanted to know what's going on, too. Noticing this, Blanc sighed and added, "You may come along too, if you want to." She did.

The four mares followed Blanc, very eager to learn more about what the hay was going on around here, and just what had happened to their friends.

The walk to the throne room took about two minutes. None of the ponies spoke a word the entire time. Upon entering the room, they greeted Princess Celestia with a bow. Blanc walked up to her, giving her his papers, and Celestia immediately started to read them with undivided attention. Luna came into the room, and she walked up to Celestia, waiting for her to finish reading the first page so that she could read it herself.

The silence the four ponies had been experiencing for the past couple of hours was becoming painstaking. They continued to watch without a word as both Luna and Celestia read the papers, Blanc standing stoically nearby as he waited for the next order from either princess.

After what seemed like an eternity, Luna looked to Celestia, who seemed to nod in confirmation before finally beginning to speak.

"From what my sister and I have gathered in the past few hours, we have reason to believe that Twilight Sparkle and her friends have unintentionally entered a portal to another location," Celestia said, "as far as where this location is, we do not have any idea. But we are sure that they safely transported to wherever it is the sphere tried to take them."

Celestia and Luna both started to walk away into their private chamber behind their thrones. At this, Applejack practically exploded at them, completely forgetting their status as royalty, "'SCUSE ME! NOW WAIT JUS' AN APPLE-PICKIN' MINUTE! _THAT_ IS WHAT WE'VE BEEN WAITIN' FOR HOURS TO HEAR NOW!"

Celestia was taken aback, "Aren't you glad to hear that they are alright, Applejack?"

"How are we 'sposed to know they _are _alright! We know that they teleported somewhere, but what if tha place they're in right now is a very dangerous place? With all this 'investigatin' business you've been doing all day, I figured you'd have something much more concrete to tell us! Ain't there anything we can do to help, at least?"

Luna seemed rather upset at the farmer pony's outburst, "There are certain matters we believe this entire incident concerns, but we feel that the time for those matters to become known to anypony other than Celestia and I has not come yet."

"How in Equestria could the time not be now, when our friends, including YOUR STUDENT Celestia, might be in mortal danger? How are we supposed to bring them back, or help them find their way home?" Rarity was getting really ticked off now, too. Even Pinkie's normally cheerful presence was gone; she didn't seem angry, just very sad.

Celestia looked down at the fashionista, forced tolerance on her face, "There is no possible way this information could help any of you get Twilight Sparkle back. If there was, we would share it with you—but it doesn't. Do not talk so critically of things you do not know of."

Rarity cringed like she'd just been punched in the face; she'd never seen Celestia have such a cold look on her face. Everyone was at the end of their wire at this point—so little info has been gathered despite all the efforts being made. It was a great strain on everybody.

Celestia retired into her private chamber along with Luna. Blanc motioned for the four ponies to leave, and they did so, albeit regretfully. They've made absolutely no progress in the past three hours into finding their friends. After a few minutes they exited Canterlot Tower and grouped together just outside the main entrance of the castle. "Now what are we gonna do, everypony?" Pinkie asked the group, really at a loss at this point.

"There is only so much two ponies can accomplish alone, even if they are alicorns." The other three turned to look at Derpy, who was looking very determined, "I think it's about time we took action ourselves. Who's with me?"

Applejack didn't even hesitate to answer, "I'm in, and I'm gonna get to th' bottom of this here mystery if it kills me." She stuck out her hoof into the center of the small circle the four had formed, and was quickly followed suit by a now enthusiastic Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Derpy Hooves. Applejack looked quite pleased that they were finally going to get something done, but then her expression went blank, "Uh, now what do we do?"

Each of the ponies' smiles turned to thoughtful frowns as they wondered just what they could do to find Twilight and the others. What _were_ they going to do?

"Well, let's think about everything that _we_ know about this 'incident'." Derpy decided to take charge of the group she formed. "We know what…that Twilight, Rainbow and Fluttershy have taken a portal to another place…um…"

"If you wanted a longer list, you should list what we _don't _know," Pinkie said sighing.

Derpy perked up a bit. "You're right, Pinkie! First, we have to figure out what we don't know if we want to get more info on what already know." The pink pony was beaming at this complement.

"Well," Rarity contributed with what she knew; or rather, didn't know, "we don't know why the portal appeared in the first place, we don't know how Twilight and the others are going to find their way back home, and we don't know that 'special information' that only Celestia and Luna appear to be privy to at the time being." Trying to answer each of these questions seemed daunting, but they'd do anything to get their friends back, including…

"Espionage may give us that little 'unrelated' tidbit." The ponies were all looking dumbfounded at Derpy at the sound of this idea. Spying on the princesses? This mare was nuts! "Hey! Can any of you think of a better idea? The best way to learn about everything that is going on would be to listen in on the ones that currently know the most about it."

"Do ya honestly think it'll be that easy to sneak up on two alicorns without anypony noticing ya? Even with an invisibility spell, I kinda doubt that they don't have any form of defense against outside magic inside the Castle."

"If we're going to plan this out, we'd better do it in private." Said Derpy.

Each of the ponies quickly silenced as they glanced around for eavesdroppers; after seeing nobody else around, they quietly walked to Canterlot's outskirts to devise their plan…


	6. Taking a Breather

"Tell me if it's too hot; I don't want to accidentally burn you, but I also didn't want to taste-test it—if you got this sick from being simply being outside in this world, who knows what you could get from me?"

Pierce was holding a spoonful to chicken noodle soup up to a weak Fluttershy's mouth. He'd already made sure that all the chicken was removed, though—soup broth had proved very good for his sore throats when he got sick in the past, and if he was going to feed it to Fluttershy he'd better make sure it's as vegetarian as possible. Fluttershy took a sip; she didn't seem to hate it, though her expression said that she didn't know what to think of this strange flavor. Nonetheless, she breathed a small sigh of relief as she gulped it down, her throat feeling a lot better almost instantaneously.

It seemed kind of funny to Pierce that he's become completely accustomed to having supposedly fictional ponies living in his room in the short span of 24 hours. His parents were now away on their trip to a nearby city for the weekend, but last night was a very difficult process of making sure Fluttershy's pained moans during her fever dreams weren't heard by his parents. He had to hide all three of the ponies in his closet that night, and at one point his dad came in to advise him to turn down the volume on "whatever you're watching". Twilight and Rainbow weren't in Pierce's bedroom at the moment, but they were in the house, taking in all that there is to see in the living spaces of this strange "human realm". Fluttershy had made a great recovery over the morning, and she was able to sit up on her own and speak a bit, though her voice was very raspy. Now that Fluttershy no longer appeared to be in critical condition, her two friends were able to relax, not that you can relax all too well when you're stranded in another dimension.

"How are you doing, Fluttershy? Feeling better yet?" Twilight Sparkle entered the room; she was a lot happier than she was yesterday, now that Fluttershy was getting better. She also had had time to mull over the fact that she was nothing more than a cartoon character in this world, and that the show was apparently loved by more adult men then the "little girls" demographic. How strange.

In fact, it was this whole "you're from a cartoon" thing is what stumped the three ponies, even more so than the question of how they ended up here.

Fluttershy smiled and nodded enthusiastically to Twilight, but then had to steady her head, getting dizzy from just that little bit of movement.

"Whoa there, Fluttershy, don't make any sudden movements." He then turned to Twilight, and without thinking, greeted her in a similar manner that he sometimes used to greet his friends: "Oh hai, Twilight, so how are you doing huuuh?" He certainly didn't expect her to get the reference, but he still decided to do his best Tommy Wiseau impression to her. Twilight cocked an eyebrow at him, so he shrugged and said "never mind" before a thought suddenly hit him. If they're going to be here a while, they may as well learn more about themselves from the bronies' point of view. Besides, it would be good to learn just how much of the show itself was actually experienced in the ponies' lives; if some things were false, what parts?

"Girls, how would you like to see the show you're all the stars of?"

Twilight cringed a bit—she'd forgotten about that until just now. Then again, it's all information that she should learn; it may help her figure out the meaning to all of this, to just _how_ these humans had a television show about her and her friends.

"I guess we may as well, Pierce." Twilight finally replied. Pierce had already gotten up and was grabbing his laptop from off his shelf. Computers and machines did exist in Equestria, but most of the time they were completely impractical to use, especially in the case of a unicorn that can use magic like her. Then again, perhaps she should learn more about computers, as none of her magic works whatsoever. Darn physics in this world…

Rainbow Dash entered the room as Pierce sat on his bed next to Fluttershy, who was still sipping her soup quietly. Fluttershy had been briefed earlier on how she was a character in a children's show, but for whatever reason she didn't seem all too concerned on the matter—perhaps it was the fever messing with her head, or maybe she really didn't mind—not that the answer as to why was all that important. Rainbow jumped up onto the bed as well in order to get a direct view of the laptop screen, the poor twin-sized mattress they were all sitting on being pressed down for all it's worth. Twilight just sat next to the bed, watching intently as Pierce started to push sequences of buttons on the laptop that wrote out sentences—how could he remember the location of all those buttons without looking?

"See Twilight, if I were to type your name into Google here," he typed 'Twilight Sparkle', and Google Instant popped up different links, along with a few 'most searched phrases'; "uh," said Pierce as he tried to quickly change the page—click a link, the image section, _anything_ before she noticed and asked-

"What is 'Twilight Sparkle rule 34'?" Rainbow asked Pierce innocently, not knowing the dark, creepy truth that Pierce never wanted them to see nor think about.

"Uh…I don't know." Pierce said finally.

"Well why don't we find out-"

"CAUSE I'M BUSY DOING OTHER STUFF OKAY?" Now regretting his choice of search, he returned to what he was initially doing to change the subject; he searched "my little pony" in the Google video search, and up popped plenty of videos to show the three ponies. Eventually, he found the first episode, and played it for the other three to watch.

It was pretty surreal for everyone. Here was Twilight, Rainbow, and Fluttershy all watching themselves carry out actions and events that practically copied the same events that they recall from their memory. And here was Pierce Faraday, watching "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic", alongside half the main cast of show.

After finishing the first episode, they all sat silently, each waiting for someone else to speak up. It was a very uncomfortable silence. Pierce finally decided to be the first to say something, "So…how accurate was that?"

"More or less, that's exactly how I remember it." Twilight replied flatly. Fluttershy and Rainbow both nodded in agreement. "Of course, certain aspects were a bit stretched, but I figure it helps add to the animation?" the last sentence was more of a question; she really had no idea what to think of all of this. While mulling this newfound info over, she happened to look out the bedroom window, into the backyard, and saw something lying on the grass. "Hey, what is that?"

Everyone else turned to look out the window at what Twilight was pointing at: a scroll lying on the ground in the middle of the backyard, at the exact same spot that the three ponies had landed on upon entering this world. The energy in the room suddenly spiked as everyone was frantically trying to go downstairs (except the sick Fluttershy) to grab the scroll and see what was written in it. Could it be a letter from the Princess?

Rainbow charged out the back door and made a beeline for the paper on the lawn. Grabbing it in her mouth, and noting it was a bit damp from the morning dew, she ran back to the house and brought it inside. She may not have the ability to fly, but her legs were as strong as ever, and she made the trip from the scroll to the back door just as Pierce and Twilight were going out it.

"Here, lemme see that." Pierce said as Rainbow handed the scroll over to him. He looked somewhat disgusted as he felt how wet the paper was, and he looked to Rainbow.

"Hey, I didn't slobber all over it! It was wet when I found it!" Rainbow exclaimed in defense. Though if that was the case, then how long has it been sitting there? It may have even come yesterday for all they knew.

As they were making their way back inside to join with Fluttershy, Pierce opened the scroll to skim it over. Twilight's anticipation grew as she saw a smile spread across his face. To keep her from exploding of curiosity, Pierce turned to her and read the first line: "To my most faithful student Twilight Sparkle."

"They know! Oh thank Celestia they know! We're going to be saved!" Rainbow exclaimed. Twilight could only bounce up and down in giddiness as they rushed upstairs to tell Fluttershy the good news.

* * *

><p>"To my most faithful student Twilight Sparkle:<p>

I have already learned of your predicament that came about this 'speck' that you mentioned to me earlier today. I am truly sorry if my belated response is what made you want to investigate it yourself, but I felt the need to consult Luna on this matter before responding. We each believe that this spark is a part of a long line of history that we both had thought was long gone, which on an unrelated note has both Luna and I very intrigued and excited. We all fear for your safety, and I am sending this letter to you through the same portal that you and your friends entered in hopes that you are still in the area you were taken to and that you hopefully did actually travel to another location. Unfortunately, this particular spark you found appears to be a one-way-only portal, and we can only relay information into it with the hopes that you are reading it now. As I write this, a massive effort is in progress to ensure your safe return to Equestria. I pray for the safety of you, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, and that you return home soon.

Sincerely,

Princess Celestia."

* * *

><p>What was initially one whiteboard was now two entire walls covered with them. Celestia and Luna were extremely busy drawing out different plans, writing down what they knew, and creating guesses and inferences as to what would come of different procedures. Despite being in the same room, each sister was in her own little world, almost completely unaware of the other. Every so often, they may edit or add to something the other had written, but that is as much contact as they made with each other.<p>

Celestia was getting extremely frustrated. It was most likely past midnight by now, and absolutely no progress had been made all day. She was going over one of the whiteboards that she had drawn on earlier; she noticed a small map of Equestria drawn on it by Luna that depicted the places the two sparks they knew of were, and also points that shown where the Elements have been over the years. There were a few crossed-out formulas next to it, and it appeared the formula was an attempt to relate the intensity of a spark's power to the duration and intensity of the Elements at that spark's point. The Elements at the spark's point…at the spark's point…

After seeing this, something in Celestia's mind hit her like a freight train; she couldn't believe that they hadn't thought of this before!

"Luna! What if we were to examine the ancient castle in the Everfree forest? The Elements had been left there for over one thousand years, and if the hivemind spark had been created by the presence of the Elements here for only one year, image what we may discover at the castle!"

Luna came out of her psychological overdrive and became excited as she also thought about what her sister was suggesting. But then she offered a rebuttal, "It's not as if we understand how the sparks operate. Besides; there could be nothing at the castle, or there could be one spark, or there could even be hundreds. What I'm concerned about is that, if there are hundreds of these sparks, what will each one do? How are we supposed to find an exit to Equestria from the current place Twilight and her friends are in? You can't tell what each spark does just by looking at it."

Celestia considered this point, but she really wanted _something_ to be done by now. "Luna, this is the only lead we have right now. We could at least have somepony examine the area and find out whether anything is there."

"Very well," said Luna, "I'll gather a team of unicorns and pegasi to go and scout the castle. Let us hope that they do not get into any trouble of their own." Luna left the room to gather the soldiers for their new mission.

Celestia breathed a deep sigh of relief to herself. If any sparks were at the castle, they could make a huge breakthrough in the investigation. She decided that it would be best if she got some rest right now, while the scouts were still being rounded up and sent off to the Everfree Forest.

* * *

><p>All the ponies that were evacuated to Canterlot were still there by the time midnight came. Even ponies that weren't in the area for mandatory in evac in Ponyville earlier had swarmed to Canterlot after the lockdown had been temporarily disabled, to give others a chance to leave. By now there wasn't a single citizen in Ponyville; everyone was fearful about the story they had heard about some strange metal ball that sucked in Twilight Sparkle and two other pegasi.<p>

Applejack and Pinkie Pie were walking around the regal streets of the mountain-embedded city, looking for a particular purple Ponyville resident with green spikes.

"I sure hope spike is alright. He doesn't even know anypony in Canterlot! What if he's really afraid and alone right now!" Pinkie was surprised to see that Applejack was not showing any concern when she looked to her. "Aren't you worried about Spike, Applejack?"

"A'hm sure he's fine, Pinkie. You realize both Twilight and Spike lived here in Canterlot their entire lives before coming ta Ponyville a few years ago? He musta found somepony that he knew and could trust to keep him while Ponyville is still under lockdown." What Applejack was more worried about was how Derpy and Rarity were doing on their own little 'mission impossible.'

"Are you still thinking about Derpy and Rarity? I'm sure they'll succeed with flying colors! Now come on, Applejack," Pinkie skipped ahead and stop right in front of Applejack, turning to meet her face-to-face with a determined look, "we're on our own secret mission! And we have to see it through!" Pinkie crouched and started darting from box to corner to hide behind, drawing more attention to herself than ever. "We're just lookin' for Spike, Pinkie…" Applejack chuckled and started to follow the pink undercover pony.


	7. Stealth

They really weren't sure exactly how they were going to complete the mission. Derpy and Rarity realized that they were completely improving a stealth mission, but they didn't care; they'd do anything to get their friends back.

The plans for the infiltration had already been created earlier, but this was the only part of the plan Rarity and Derpy were sure of how to execute. Rarity used her magic to create an invisibility spell and enveloped Derpy in it. This was their plan; the pegasus, since flight gives much more agility and dexterity, would become invisible by the help of the unicorn while she snuck into the Princess' private rooms. They could only hope to either overhear an important conversation or to see papers describing what the two secretive alicorns knew. The consequences of spying on their own rulers were something the ponies tried to get out of their heads as they made their way back into Canterlot Castle.

Rarity didn't have enough power to make the invisibility spell last too long on even one pony, so using it on both Derpy and herself was a bad idea. Instead, Rarity walked 'alone' into the castle, being followed by an invisible pegasus, and with her best dress on, blending in with the other ponies that had their own fancy getups inside of the castle. The invisibility spell was one that Rarity had learned and used previously, but she was extremely unskilled with it; in order to keep it working, she had to keep a steady flow of magic from her horn to Derpy, meaning she had to stay in an approximate radius of about nine yards (they had tested this out earlier to see how far Derpy could be and still be completely invisible) from the pegasus. To keep the magic glow of her horn from being seen, she wore a most stylish hat on top of it.

"You sure you can keep up while I'm on a different floor?" Derpy whispered to the unicorn, concern and determination in her voice.

"Since I'm using my magic on you, I can sense where you are, even I can't see you. Unfortunately, you will not know whether or not I'm keeping up the pace when you can't see me." This was the major point of concern for both the ponies at the moment. As part of the plan included going to a part of the castle that was extremely off-limits—the Princess' private room, a place not even the royal guards are allowed within—Rarity would have to be standing inside the throne room for Derpy's invisibility to work inside the room, so they found it would be best if Rarity instead used the floor beneath it; she would stick out like a sore thumb in the presence of all the guards on that floor anyway, since any ponies that would normally be on that floor were excused from it to give Celestia and Luna more room to think.

"Let's just hope we find something out from this." Derpy spoke what she hoped were not her last words as she distanced herself from Rarity, flying up the spiral staircase to the second floor, Rarity not far behind her. The throne and private rooms, and Derpy's destination, were on the fourth floor.

Derpy looked around the third floor when she got there. She'd gone as far as this particular staircase would take her; apparently the staircase to the fourth floor was on the other side of the third floor, disbarring direct access from the gates on the first floor to the throne room. Not a bad idea, Derpy thought to herself, not that it would stop her at all.

The third floor was much different from the previous two in that it was a massive library, while the first and second floors were places for stately mingling and get-togethers. The bookshelves reached all the way up to the two-story ceiling, all lined with knowledge gathered from the thousand years that Canterlot had been in existence, and perhaps even before that. What gathered the ponies' attention most though was the height of this floor; if Rarity were on the ground of the third floor, it allowed Derpy only about three or four feet of vertical space on the fourth floor, if she wanted to stay invisible.

"Um, Derpy darling, I'm afraid we may have to take a quick breather." As Rarity said this, Derpy began to notice the hair that was hanging above her eyes. She quickly dove behind a bookshelf before her entire body became visible.

She looked to Rarity with anxiety, "Are you going to be alright, Rarity? Should we turn back for now?"

"Oh nonono, of course not! I just really need to take a break; I'm not used to this spell, and it appears that it is quite draining on me. Even as I'm using it now, I'm getting better and more efficient at it, so I'm sure we can keep on going." She sighed as she joined Derpy behind the bookcase. If they really needed to, they could stay there for quite a while before being seen, as few ponies had reason to enter the library, much less during this time of night. If they were to be seen, it would be by a pony that was on their way to the fourth floor, but that place was currently off-limits.

"Don't worry, Rarity. We can do this." Derpy said to the fashionista, after seeing her worried look at her small failure. After receiving a reassuring smile from the unicorn, Derpy looked around at the books that were in the shelves they were laying on. "Hey look, we're in the history section," she mused to herself as she got up to take a closer look at the books.

"Well that's nice, but since Celestia herself said that the information she and Luna knew was exclusive to them, I highly doubt that it's in any of these books. Besides, we don't even know what we're looking for." Rarity sighed again as she just now realized that they really didn't have any idea what they were supposed to find as far as information goes.

Derpy furrowed her brow and gave Rarity a doubting glance. "We're going to find something, okay? Don't be so negative, otherwise we're just going to get negative results. While I'm waiting for you to regain your strength, _I'm _going to look up any extra info I can." She flew up to the top of the bookshelves, glancing at what each of their spines read, hoping to find something that'll give them a breakthrough.

Several minutes passed as Derpy scanned each and every one of the books on the massive shelf they were hiding behind. Halfway through looking at each one, she sighed and gave up, returning to Rarity. "You good yet?" she asked in a half-defeated tone.

"Yes, I believe I am. Let us continue, Derpy." Rarity was unsure of herself—what happens if the invisibility wares off while Derpy is on the fourth floor? Heck, Derpy was the one giving the most sacrifice, and if she was caught, had the most to lose.

Rarity's horn glowed underneath her hat as Derpy became nothing more than an apparition, before finally becoming completely invisible. As Derpy made her way to the fourth floor staircase, Rarity followed, pretending to gloss over the different books lining the selves. The unicorn stood quietly near the staircase as she felt the pegasus rise upwards. As she was about to make her way back to the other side of the floor, to keep up with Derpy, she instead felt her fly back down to her in a hurry. "What's wrong?" Rarity whispered to the pegasus.

This was another problem they hadn't considered. "The gates to the fourth floor are closed and blocked by two guards!" Derpy watched as Rarity's face became filled with horror, "What are we going to do now?"

That was a good question. What now? How do you open gates that are blocked by soldiers of royalty? If they could somehow distract the guards…unless the gates are also locked. Are they?

"I'm afraid we may have to go back and recollect our thoughts." It pained Rarity to say this, but there really was no other way that she could think of to get through those doors.

"All we have to do is create a distraction, and then I can sneak behind the doors!" Derpy was really determined, if not really angry at the moment. These were her friends, too! She'd known each of them since she first got her job as mailmare—well, not Twilight, obviously—and has had many good times with them, especially all the fun she'd had flying in the sky with Rainbow Dash, who would always challenge her to a race to her next delivery. These Princesses may think that they know what is best for their subjects, and normally they're right, but nopony knows Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy like Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rarity! If anypony could save them, it would be them! She just _had_ to find out what the Princesses were keeping from them! She needed to make some type of distraction, perhaps if she-

"Derpy, we don't even know if the doors are locked or not! Now let's go regroup with the others and make a new plan-"

Rarity's sentence was stopped short when she heard the sound of a large mass of wood creak as it started to fall.

She turned around to see the still-invisible pegasus shoving a bookshelf at the center of the library into the bookshelf next to it, colliding into the one behind it, and that one colliding into that one, as a domino effect slowly and very noisily caused a fourth of the library to collapse onto the floor, scattering books everywhere. The books, though tossed around quite a bit, seemed relatively unharmed; the ancient bookshelves, on the other hand, were completely scrapped—there were large pieces of timber and splinters everywhere. Rarity realized now: Derpy was _pissed_. She didn't even have time to say anything to her as the pony flew back upwards to the fourth floor. Rarity overheard guards yelling to each other, along with the sound of the massive gates upstairs opening. Then it hit her that she was the only pony in the now-decimated library. Knowing it would be a huge strain on her magic, but not wanting to get in trouble for something she didn't even do, she surrounded herself in the invisibility spell and made a mad dash up the staircase after Derpy, dodging several guards running down as she did.

Derpy was waiting a quick moment on the fourth floor—she knew that Rarity probably wouldn't be following her immediately after what had just happened, so she gave her a moment to catch up and keep the spell on her. Actually, she hadn't considered that Rarity may be seen by the guards. Oh Celestia, what has she done?

Just as the thought was going through her mind, she heard the loud whisper of a pony behind her, "What in Equestria where you thinking you foal!" She turned to see Rarity appear out of thin air near the gates, after seeing no one else around.

"I'm sorry! It was kinda a spur-of-the-moment fit of rage!" Rarity's anger wasn't fazed, so she tried to change the subject, "Come on! I think all of the guards went down to see what happened—we only have a minute or so before they all come back!" Rarity, still obviously peeved over what Derpy had just done, turned herself invisible once again as both the unseen ponies now made a beeline for the doors to the throne room. As they ran towards the doors, they heard the voice of a pony guard yelling "What the hell happened here?" from down the stairs.

They both had to use all their muscle to push the huge door far enough open to give them just enough room to enter. Rarity took a look around the throne room and, seeing that it was empty, dispersed the invisibility spell to give her strained magic a break. Before she did though, she felt a strange tug to her horn from a spot in the far end of the room, near the door to the Elements of Harmony. She was wondering just what it was that she had just felt before Derpy interrupted her thoughts.

"C'mon, Rarity, let's get to the private room! I just hope the Princesses aren't actually there…"

Rarity flattened herself up against the wall next to the private room's door, using her magic again to surround Derpy in invisibility. Derpy pressed her ear to the door, and after hearing nothing for a few seconds, began to open it very slowly. Every small click of the doorknob sounded like an earthquake to the two of them during the painstakingly slow process of getting into the room. Finally, Derpy was able to open the door, but she then froze in place and stared to Rarity in fear. Rarity couldn't see her—the invisibility spell was still in effect—but she sensed with her magic the words that Derpy was mouthing: "CELESTIA. IS. SLEEPING. IN. THERE."

Rarity didn't know what to say to the petrified pegasus now. Heck, she was the one who was so willing to come here that she leveled a fourth of the royal library to do so. Rarity mouthed back to her, 'What do you see?'

Derpy glanced inside the room, taking in everything it had to offer. There was a twinkle in her eyes as she turned back to Rarity and mouthed, 'Drawings, words, diagrams. A lot of things on whiteboards.' After getting a nervous nod from Rarity, Derpy decided to go inside of the room and read up on anything she could.

It was a long three minutes that passed. Rarity was surprised that no guards had entered the throne room to tell Celestia about the incident with the bookcases, but then again, perhaps they had been given the order to not disturb the princesses at all while they were in their private chambers. As she was waiting, she couldn't help but take notice of the weird, almost magnetic, pull on her horn while she was using her magic. It kept coming from an area that hovered next to the door that had the Elements of Harmony sealed behind it. What was with that strange feeling it kept giving her?

Derpy finally rushed out the room a few minutes later, silently closing the door behind her. She gave Rarity a big grin as she mouthed 'I got a lot of info!'

Rarity grinned back, but then looked over again to the magnetic speck a few yards away from her. Derpy, noticing this, walked over in front of Rarity's field of vision, between her and the speck, and gave her a questioning look. Derpy watched as Rarity only shrugged and pointed to her horn, then to the door sealing the Elements of Harmony, then back to her horn. What did she mean by this? May as well check it out herself.

Before Rarity could stop her, Derpy walked up to the door to further inspect it. As Derpy zoomed in toward the door, wondering what Rarity was trying to say, her forehead, still shrouded in invisibility magic, came into contact with the spark in front of the door.

The magic enveloping her was suddenly sucked into the speck, making Derpy clearly visible; the speck grew into a palm-sized sphere of soft, magnificent yellow light. Before either pony could react to it, the sphere shot a beam of light into Derpy's forehead. Derpy's shocked look went completely stoic as her eyes rolled into the back of her head and began to glow the same soft yellow that the sphere did. She began to lift off of the floor as the sphere penetrated her brain, her mouth agape while it did so.

Celestia woke to the sound of a pony screaming "Wah-ha-haaa!" from behind her door. Wait, was that Rarity's voice? She didn't have a clue as to what was happening—until she felt the magic of the spark being released.

Celestia instantly got out of her sleepy daze as she charged through the door, turning to see a pony using the hivemind spark…wait, a pegasus? She looked at a terrified Rarity cowering next to the wall, first horrified at what was happening to the other pony, but now in fear of the Princess. Celestia attempted to get Derpy out from contact with the spark, but it shot off a bolt of electricity to keep her at bay.

Now both Celestia and Rarity stood there, helpless to save the pegasus from what was happening to her. Celestia was worried about just what was going on in the pony's head—she herself didn't have a problem using the spark, but not only was this other pony not an alicorn of powerful magic and mind, but it was a pegasus, a pony that isn't even supposed to be able to use the magic required to activate a spark.

Seconds ticked by like hours as Derpy's body was shuddering from the force of the yellow sphere of energy. Finally, the beam to her head began to shrink before completely disappearing, along with the sphere itself that shrunk into absolutely nothing. The light left Derpy's eyes as they closed, and she fell to the floor with a thud. Regaining her consciousness, she looked up to meet the concerned but angry look of Princess Celestia. Instead of being scared though, Derpy looked to the princess with a kind of elation. She then spoke a single sentence that gave Celestia a much more surprised look than it seemed to deserve.

"I know where he is." Derpy said flatly.

Celestia started, "What? You mean-"

"Yes, _him_," she said again, "I know where _he_ is."

Celestia's angry look melted into a very neutral one. She didn't show it, but the happiness was easily heard in her voice. "Show me," she said.


	8. Cluster

"Is everypony ready?"

Luna was answered with a nod from all twenty ponies in the group. The plan was to bring ten pegasi and ten unicorns to the ancient castle in Everfree and find out whether any sparks that could bring them to Twilight's location existed. They had each dawned a small ear-mounted headset for long-distance communication, and the unicorns were already climbing into the chariots; two unicorns per chariot, two pegasi pulling each chariot, and five chariots total. They wanted to get there ASAP, so there was no time to waste. Luna was heading the mission, with Blanc leading the pegasi; leading the unicorns was a unicorn mare with a dark green coat, long black mane, and light purple eyes. On her flank was a picture of an old-style dreamcatcher, which happened to suit her name perfectly. Dreamcatcher looked upon her small fleet of nine unicorns, and then she herself also replied to Luna with a nod.

"We're all ready, Your Highness." She said.

"Come on then, we gotta get going!" Blanc was eager to get out and do some exploring. He had been cooped up in the castle for weeks now, and this entire incident—while unfortunate that such a thing happened to those three ponies—gave him a chance to spread his wings and fly in the crisp night air.

"Then let us be off!" Luna took to the skies, quickly followed by Blanc and the other pegasi pulling the chariots.

Dreamcatcher herself was very interested in this whole 'magic spark' business. In fact, this was the first she had heard of such a thing. The Princesses had kept it all very hush-hush for an entire year following the Discord Incident, an amazing feat considering how easily it appeared to be for a unicorn to sense the spark's pull. At least, the one that was in Canterlot Castle. In fact, the 'hivemind spark' was the only one she had been given a detailed description on—the only other one that the Princesses knew of they had only just learned about this morning. Huh, this morning. Only a fraction of time had passed from the time of the incident around mid-morning to the current time, just past midnight, but it seemed like days have gone by. But she digressed; what she had been told about the hivemind spark is that, when activated by the magic of Celestia or Luna, it would turn into a sphere of light that connected with their mind—somehow sharing thoughts of other ponies or creatures with them, freely flowing information from their minds into the Princesses', not that they had any means of controlling it. It surely didn't make any sense, and neither did this new spark that had formed at Ponyville. And now they were out looking for what could potentially be hundreds more of these so-called 'sparks'.

Everyone was very quiet as they traveled in the sky towards the castle, no one knowing what to expect there.

After about fifteen minutes had passed, the castle came into sight. "Castle ho!" cried Blanc as he flew just a little bit faster, wanting to investigate the ruins. His sudden cry in the middle of such long silence had startled half the ponies, including a now-peeved Dreamcatcher.

"Do you mind? We're supposed to be civilized, Blanc." Dreamcatcher never cared for Blanc's informal approach at, well, everything. Talking, eating, even his walk had absolutely no air of nobility, despite his rather high position as Head Captain of the Pegasi Division. In fact, it was the highest position possible before being the actual ruler of Equestria. This also meant that she, being the Head Captain of the Unicorn Division, had to be around him—and had to stand his bad manners—a _lot_.

"Aw, put a cupcake in it, Dreamer." Blanc said casually to the unicorn. Her cheeks got beet-red as she let out a small grunt of anger. How dare he say something like that? And _right in front of the princess, too!_

Before she could get any angrier at the oblivious pegasus, Luna started to descend, saying to the others, "We have arrived to our destination."

They each landed on the roof of the old castle. Luna particularly didn't enjoy being here at all—it brought back bad memories, memories of herself as the dreaded Nightmare Moon, but she pushed those thoughts aside. She had to find a portal to Twilight Sparkle and the others, that was her priority right now!

"Be cautious with your magic," Dreamcatcher said to her platoon of horned ponies, "we do not want to set off any sparks that may be around. Princess Luna, I shall wait for your go-ahead."

"Thank you, Dreamcatcher," Luna said as she began to fly upwards. If she was going to use her magic to detect any sparks, she wanted to make sure she was in a spot that probably wasn't going to be swarming with them. Hovering a good twenty feet from the roof of the castle, she started to use her magic, her horn glowing a deep blue as she did so.

She didn't feel anything. Perhaps she was too far from the ground, she thought. She started to lower back down, her hopes dropping with her body as she didn't sense a thing. Just before she landed back on the roof, though, she felt something. In fact, she felt a _lot_ of something.

Out of nowhere, she went from feeling no pull to feeling the pull of several dozen sparks beneath the roof of the castle, all dispersed around the room below them. She actually strained her head a bit as she pulled back from the magnetic force of all the sparks below. Stopping her magic to give her neck a rest, she turned to Dreamcatcher and the other unicorns. "There's quite the amount of force down there." She said to them. Dreamcatcher began to open her mouth, but Luna gave the answer to the question she knew she was going to ask, "Yes, I'm giving you the go-ahead. Just…be careful, okay?"

Dreamcatcher looked uncertain after the last part of that statement, but she nonetheless began to use her magic, surprise filling her face as she too felt the enormous pull from all the magical anomalies on the level under her hooves. "Fascinating," was all she could say.

"So…now what, exactly?" Blanc was getting impatient again. He knew the main purpose of his fleet was to quickly bring the unicorns to the castle, and maybe provide backup should there be an ambush or some unexpected fight—you didn't know what to expect when you're going to check out magical anomalies in the Everfree Forest—but he didn't want the unicorns to have all the fun! He could see that he was really testing Dreamcatcher's patience with each sentence he spoke.

"Now…we find the one single spark that will take us to Twilight Sparkle." Luna replied, sounding rather daunted by the goal they had set for themselves. Dreamcatcher only nodded in agreement.

"Since the hivemind spark and the one-way-portal spark had such different forms after being activated, I assume that we would be able to tell which ones also had portal-like tendencies by looking for ones that created large reflective metal spheres." Dreamcatcher said to Luna and her unicorn team. She led the team down a staircase, down one floor into the castle. Blanc sighed as he realized his only job tonight was going to be as a transportation service.

Dreamcatcher had trouble keeping herself grounded when she used her magic inside the castle. There were perhaps a few hundred sparks, all centered in the room she was in, a room with a large stone shape in the center that looked like it had been used to hold different objects in. Luna easily recognized the room as the place the Elements of Harmony has taken refuge in for one thousand long years, along with this being the place where the curse of Nightmare Moon had finally been lifted from her two years ago, thanks to the efforts of Twilight Sparkle and her friends. She had to find something that could get them back; she still needed to repay them for what they had done for her.

"Well, may as start somewhere," said Dreamcatcher as she shot a beam of magic into one of the sparks furthest to the left of the room. The spark immediately absorbed the energy and grew to a dark-purple swirling disk. Luna glared at Dreamcatcher for having activated a random spark without knowing what it did. Actually, what did it do?

The question was answered as the ponies in the room ducked for cover when the disk started glowing bright pink and two pillars of light shot out each side of it, crashing into the stone directly above and beneath it. The disk then disappeared, the magic fueling it now gone. Getting up, the unicorns and Luna noticed the stone it hit, while now slightly crushed from the impact, looked a lot newer, with the color of it lighter and the edges less rough.

"Dreamcatcher, I suggest we try and figure out what these sparks do BEFORE we set them off," Luna scolded the unicorn as Blanc rushed down with his soldiers, wondering what the hay just happened, "We shouldn't even be setting off each spark one-by-one because, if you actually took notice, you can sense small differences between each spark while it's inactive. Each one is a microscopic version of its activated self, so we just have to find a spark that is a microscopic metallic sphere."

Dreamcatcher nodded obediently and started scanning each of the sparks, which actually proved to be a difficult task, seeing as how one had to focus on both a single spark and on not being pulled in by the immense pulling force of each one's magic as a whole.

The entire unicorn fleet was now utilizing their magic to find a spark that matched the description of the one Twilight, Rainbow and Fluttershy had entered the previous morning.

Dreamcatcher was too busy examining each spark to notice the pony yelling behind her. It took a good knock against the head from Blanc for her to lose her focus. Before giving him the sternest talking-to he was ever going to hear, her attention turned to a unicorn that had been trying to get her attention in the first place.

"I think I found something," he repeated again.

"Really? Where!" Dreamcatcher could hardly contain her excitement as she looked to the area in the room that the colt was pointing to. She steadied her magic in that area, and after a couple seconds of searching, sensed what appeared to be a miniscule ball of magic that had a reflective surface and metallic look. About to set it off, she hesitated and turned to Luna, who gave her a confirming nod, before she turned back to the spark and sent a beam of magic straight into it.

The sphere shot out several inches to each side as it absorbed the magic that had been sent into it. Luna turned and motioned to Blanc to investigate, who went straight to the sphere without a second thought. "Don't touch it, though!" she advised.

Blanc looked all around the sphere. The only thing he took note of about it was that it mirrored him and the background on its surface—only inverted vertically. He began to reach towards it, only to hear "Don't touch it!" being yelled again by Dreamcatcher. But his curiosity gained the best of him. Sure, he had read the detailed reports. Hell, he was the one that had interviewed each witness. But something seemed off about this 'portal' as opposed to the one in Ponyville—while the one in Ponyville was reported to have a _pulling force_ to magic, this one appeared to _push it away_. He could feel it even in the small magic that resided in his wings. His heart racing, and Dreamcatcher still yelling the crap out of him, he put a hoof up to the sphere, and poked it.

The clang of hoof to metal echoed throughout the entire room. Everyone went silent as Blanc tapped the sphere a few more times, not able to go into the ball even after pushing all his weight onto it. Dreamcatcher was very confused, but Luna's face showed that she had a feeling she knew what was going on.

"I-I don't understand. Your Highness, why is it not reacting to him, not even in the slightest? In fact, it is pushing him away…"

"I think," Luna paused, recollecting her thoughts, "that this is the portal we've been looking for. It appears that this is a one-way-out counterpart to the one-way-in portal at Ponyville. All we have to do is activate this portal in the location of Twilight Sparkle and her friends on the other side, as I doubt they have seen or will see this portal appear in the place they are in. Let us report back to my sister our findings, as I think that the rescue of Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy is almost at hoof."

The unicorns gathered back into the chariots as they all took off back to the castle to tell Celestia the good news.

* * *

><p>"Spi~ike! Here Spikey Spikey Spike!"<p>

"He's a dragon, Pinkie. He ain't no dog."

Both Applejack and Pinkie Pie had been searching for Spike for half an hour, but they still had no idea where he was, or where he may be. Both of them were getting worried about him. Not only was he completely alone in Canterlot, but his best friend had been trapped in some unknown place. However, just as the two ponies were starting to give up hope, they heard someone yelling to them in the far distance.

"Hey! Applejack! Pinkie Pie!" The girls turned around to see Spike waving to them from the second-story window of one of the houses. Thrilled to see him, they rushed over to meet up.

"Where the hay have you been you little whippersnapper?" Applejack teased Spike, though at the same time she had been worried about where he was.

"I've been hanging out here with Moondancer since the evac. If it hadn't been for Twilight's disappearance actually, she probably wouldn't have let me in here." Spike had a smug grin on his face as if he'd snuck into a girl's locker room. Applejack wasn't pleased with this one bit.

"You should be ashamed of yerself! How can you not even be worried about Twilight and Rainbow and Fluttershy? Instead, here ya are usin' it as an excuse to get into somepony's house! That's despicable!"

"Twilight is gonna be just fine, Applejack!" Spike assured her, "I've been receiving updates on the situation by Princess Celestia herself, and they believe they're on their way to finding out how to bring them all back. Since there is little I can do to help the situation, I'm just going to chill here with Moondancer until everything goes back to normal."

Applejack sighed. Perhaps it was best that he didn't realize the gravity of the situation, as he was just a baby dragon. "Is there anything you could tell us about these here updates from Celestia that may help us out? Unlike _you_, we're all trying to help speed up the whole rescuin' process, and any information would be helpful."

Spike thought for a moment while rubbing his chin. "Well…um…perhaps, uh. Y'know what, why don't you just take the letters and read them yourself?" After receiving affirmative nods from the two ponies, Spike disappeared for a moment, reappearing with a small handful of scrolls grasped in his palm. "Here, catch," he said as he dropped them to the ponies, Pinkie Pie gathering them all up before they could even touch the ground. "Anyways, I'm going to stay here for now, but I hope that you guys find something useful from those letters!"

"Ophay, Shpife, shee vou bater!" Pinkie tried to talk with a mouthful of paper to the dragon. Both she and Applejack waved goodbye as they made their way back to Canterlot Castle, hoping that Rarity and Derpy found something useful. And that they didn't get caught.

They had only gone ten feet forward before Spike came back to the window and began to yell back to them. They turned to see another scroll in his claw. "I just got this from the Princess! She's saying that if I find you guys you should report to the throne room immediately!"

Pinkie and Applejack looked to each other uneasily. Had Rarity and Derpy been found out? "Thanks for tellin' us, Spike. Tell Celestia we're on our way right now."

Spike nodded to them and left the window again. Applejack and Pinkie began to walk toward Canterlot Castle again, but this time in a faster, nervous trot.


	9. Regroup

"Luna, come in, this is Celestia." Luna heard her sister's voice over her headset.

"I am here, speak your business."

"A very interesting event has just occurred here at the castle. A pegasus going by the name of Ditzy 'Derpy Hooves' Doo has just come into contact with the hivemind spark."

"What! How? And why was a pony snooping in the throne room to begin with?" Luna was immediately getting upset over this information. How dare somepony snoop in their castle and try to use such a powerful magic! How did she know about, anyway?

Celestia, hearing the anger in Luna's voice, felt it was best to tell the good news first (and perhaps leave out the part about a quarter of the royal library collapsing), "Her connection with it has somehow given her knowledge of the location of Omega."

"WHAT?" Luna startled all the ponies around her. Celestia was talking directly to Luna's headset, so they hadn't heard the discussion going on. Not that any of them would know who Omega is. "Where? Where is he!" Luna could not contain her excitement at all—and her strange behavior was taking the interest of Dreamcatcher.

"Is something wrong, Your Highness?" Dreamcatcher was confused over Luna's sudden outburst. It wasn't something you'd expect from one of the rulers of Equestria.

Luna didn't even hear Dreamcatcher. She was waiting for an answer from Celestia about Omega's location.

"She doesn't know," Celestia sighed. Luna gave an angry look to the headset on her ear, as if Celestia would feel her dissatisfaction toward her right now. She knew his location but she didn't? What kind of sick joke is this?

"At least," Celestia continued, "her consciousness doesn't know his location." Before Luna could speak up, Celestia answered what she knew her sister was going to ask, "The information is buried inside of her sub consciousness, so the only times she gives information about him, it's from her body doing so on its own. If I ask her to take me to him, her body automatically starts to walk away, which I'm assuming is following a mental map given to her by the spark."

"…So, can we just fly her in a chariot and have her body point out where he is?"

"Unfortunately, luck isn't on our side in this case," replied Celestia. "I've even gone so far as to ask her to point out where he is on a map, but her body only reacts when on the ground, and the only reaction given is walking towards his location. She initially claimed to me that she 'knows where he is', but she didn't even understand what she meant by that when she said it."

"But then are you sure that this is Omega that she speaks of?" Luna was now getting suspicious of this magic pegasus' claims.

"Beyond a shadow of a doubt," Celestia stated plainly, trying to get across that she completely trusted the winged pony.

"Very well then," if her sister believed this pony, then she could too, "I shall return to the Castle with utmost haste. Also, we have discovered a little info ourselves; I wouldn't be surprised if all these small pieces of evidence we are discovering were all part of the same puzzle."

"I couldn't agree more," Celestia replied.

* * *

><p>Luna and her small fleet of soldiers arrived ten minutes after having had her discussion with Celestia. She was a large melting pot of emotions right now, ranging from confusion to happiness to surprise to anger (after seeing the library's current state). She gave a questioning Dreamcatcher the vaguest of answers during the flight back when she was asked about just what had excited her so much. Omega was a topic that neither Luna nor her sister had ever discussed, not even behind closed doors; it was a very secretive issue that the Princesses had felt wasn't necessary to be shared with the rest of Equestria. But now that they may be on the verge of finding him, despite that they had thought for a long time that he was dead, secrets hidden for a thousand years were going to come flooding out like an overflowed river during rainy season.<p>

Blanc and Dreamcatcher dismissed their respective squads, they themselves staying to hear what the Princesses had to say. Only several ponies had been called to the room, of which included Rarity, Derpy, Applejack, Pinkie, Blanc, and Dreamcatcher. They all waited in the throne room for the Princesses to finish their small meeting in their private room. This gave a little time for everyone to catch their breath and discuss with each other about what they knew or had learned. Dreamcatcher in particular was bashing Derpy with question after question, trying to understand more about what had happened to her with the spark and what she knew about this 'Omega'.

Eventually, the doors of the private room swung open, and the six ponies in the room fell silent as Princesses Celestia and Luna walked up to them and began to speak.

"We feel it is necessary to give you all a small history lesson in order for you all to further understand just what is going on," said Luna. She nodded to Celestia and gave her the floor to speak.

Celestia cleared her throat for what was going to be a complicated story that she had never once told before—in fact, she was practically ad-libbing it. "There once existed a godlike alicorn named Omega." She paused after the first sentence, not liking how what she had just said sounded like the opening to a little filly's storybook, "He had an unbelievable amount of magic, and with it, he raised the land of Equestria from the sea, and populated it with all the creatures you and I see today. He was wise and he was loyal to his subjects, and Equestria lived in harmony during his reign." Celestia paused again, thinking to herself, "One fateful day, however, the evil creature known as Discord appeared out of nowhere and started a single-handed attack against Equestria. Nopony knew why he was doing this or where he had come from, but Omega appeared to be familiar with him and what he was capable of. There was a long struggle between the two that lasted multiple days, a stalemate between two creatures that seemed to have equal power, wit, and skill. Unfortunately, the battle ended in Discord's favor. He directly attacked the citizens of the capital; Omega's care and passion for his kingdom led him to take immediate action to protect the innocent bystanders, and Discord took advantage of the opportunity that it gave. Without a hint as to what had happened, the Great Alicorn Omega simply vanished, Discord claiming he had stranded him in another dimension. It was then that Discord's reign of chaos began, and when Luna and I began our search for the Elements of Harmony to defeat him." She finished, sitting down and closing her eyes.

None of the ponies knew what to make of this information. It sounded like some old forgotten fairy tale, but Celestia was serious.

"Okay…so what are we supposed to do then?" Blanc didn't like to tip-toe around what he wanted to know.

"Upon Derpy's accident with the hivemind spark," Luna motioned to the cock-eyed pegasus, "her sub consciousness had been given the location of where he supposedly remains. After Celestia and I defeated Discord with the Elements of Harmony, we searched and searched for Omega, hoping to find a trace of where Discord has left him. After multiple years and turning out nothing, we had assumed that Omega was long gone and we gave up."

"So yer saying that we're gonna go find this here alicorn that's supposed to be in another dimension 'cause of Discord," Applejack paused, "but what are we 'sposed to do once we find 'em, or even _if _we find 'em? How are we gonna go about bringing him back to Equestria?"

At this, Derpy's body began to go towards the door, making weird motions like it was trying to tell everyone something. "Stupid body! Why can't you just write it down?" Derpy complained to herself.

Celestia didn't look very concerned about Applejack's question. "I am sure that Derpy knows everything that needs to be done. Besides, we can only find out what to do next if she actually gets there. Unfortunately, I do not know how far Omega may be, and therefore I do not know how far your journey may take you." She turned to Dreamcatcher and Blanc, "That is why you two are going with these four and are going to find him."

"…Wait, what?" That last sentence caught Dreamcatcher off-guard. She's supposed to go on a long trek of unknown length with just these four ponies…and_ Blanc_! "Are you sure about this, Your Highness?"

"Oh for crying out loud Dreamer, do you really hate me _that_ much?" Blanc actually looked insulted for once, "I for one am excited to finally be able to _do_ something other than sit on my rump all day long."

"I never said I hated you!" Dreamcatcher looked a little insulted herself. She didn't hate Blanc; if she did, he probably wouldn't be in the royal army at the moment. "I just find you a tad bit hard to tolerate," she turned back to Luna to repeat her initial question, "Would it not be a better idea to send a large group of soldiers along with this 'Derpy' mare? Also, and no offense to you girls," she said to Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie, "but should they be the only ones to protect the pegasus on her way to Omega?"

"That's where you and Blanc come in," Celestia replied with a smile. Dreamcatcher let out a heavy sigh. "Oh come now, I have the utmost confidence that you six will be able to handle the situation quick and cleanly. I would have you bring the Elements with you, in hopes that it would assist in saving Omega, but we would need Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy for that, and we don't have the time to wait for their return."

Everyone had actually forgotten about Twilight and the others until just now. "That reminds me!" Pinkie began, "Are they gonna be alright? We were looking around earlier for information to save Twilight…" she glanced down at the staircase on the opposite side of the long room, thinking about the desecrated library, "…because we didn't want to wait on you guys." She hung her head low, "Sorry about all the trouble we've caused." Rarity and Derpy joined in Pinkie's grief, but bowed an apology to Celestia as well.

"Well, honestly, I should be furious about what you girls have done." She was mainly talking about the library incident then she was anything else, "But you were desperately looking for a way to save your friends, and I can commemorate that to an extent." She smiled to Derpy as she spoke again, "Also, if it hadn't been for your snooping, Luna and I would still think of Omega as a relic of the past."

"Princess?" Celestia turned her attention to Rarity as the unicorn asked her question. "I don't mean to sound uncouth, but what exactly do we stand to gain from bringing back this alicorn?"

Celestia smiled again as she thought back to ancient memories. "The answer to that will come in good time, my friend. I'm sure that Omega will be able to tell the story of his life better than I just did, anyways."

"…Well, what are we waiting for, a written invitation? Let's get this search party started!" Blanc began to fly around the room, getting impatient at how no one else seemed to be doing anything.

"Ooh! I love parties!" Pinkie began to bounce around the room with Blanc, suddenly excited.

"Fine, fine, let's get a move-on, then," said Applejack to calm the two ponies down.

As the ponies started to make for the door, Derpy's sub-conscious-controlled body leading the way, Dreamcatcher stopped to ask one more question, "Princess Luna?"

"Yes, Dreamcatcher?"

"Could you not come with us? I'm sure your being an alicorn would help in one way or another in getting Omega back…" Dreamcatcher knew that was a stupid reason, but she wanted someone she could actually TALK to with her on their quest. And also keep her sane while Blanc was in the vicinity. Actually, Luna was the only pony that Dreamcatcher had ever felt comfortable around. Even in school as a small filly, Dreamcatcher had never been one to socialize with the other students. When she had been given the position of Head Captain of the Royal Equestrian Unicorn Division just one year ago, it had been Princess Luna herself that taught her to be able to speak to a crowd and give commands to a group. In all honesty, Dreamcatcher still didn't have any idea how she had gotten such an important role in the government in the first place.

"I'm sorry, Dreamcatcher, but I have other business I need to attend to. More specifically, I will be heading into the Ponyville portal to the location of Twilight Sparkle."

"Wait, what?" All the ponies turned their heads when they heard what Luna had said. She, one of the Princesses of Equestria, was going into the vast unknown by herself?

"I plan on finding the exit portal on the other side and using it to bring back Twilight Sparkle and her friends to Equestria. Do not fear for me, as I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is no danger in simply traversing the portal."

Dreamcatcher was not convinced, but wasn't going to question her mentor's judgment. Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie and Derpy on the other hand were ecstatic to hear their friends were finally coming back home.

"Well then, best wishes to ya, Princess!" Applejack said, multiple nods of agreement coming from the rest of the group.

"Thank you, girls, and best wishes to all of you in your journey to find Omega." Luna walked back into the private room, getting ready for her own departure.

"Alright, everypony! How much longer am I gonna have to frickin' wait?" Blanc's attitude was met with an extremely stern glare from Dreamcatcher. 'Oh Celestia, this is going to be one heck of a journey with _her_ around', Blanc mused to himself as the six ponies left for the staircase, following Derpy's lead.


	10. Entrance

The streets of Ponyville were nothing more than the streets of a ghost town now. Not a single resident had wanted to stay, everyone afraid of the magic anomaly they were now aware of. That thing had taken three ponies into another place, the location where they actually went no one knew of.

As the sun rose over the horizon, Canterlot was abuzz with rumors that varied from the misinformed to the outright ridiculous. One could walk across the street and hear five different stories; like how Twilight Sparkle and her friends were eaten by an evil metal ball that thirsted for pony blood, or about how two pegasi had formed a portal to Hell and accidentally got sucked in themselves when they tried to throw in a unicorn as a sacrifice, or even that Twilight Sparkle was a robot unicorn from the future that had come to the present to bring back Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, who were destined to save a space-age that was falling apart at its seams. Rose, Lily and Daisy's frantic freak-outs weren't remedying the situation.

Luna had really wanted to tell those gossiping foals off, but she stuck to the mission she was on—saving the unicorn and her friends. She flew solo to the now-abandoned Ponyville, passing by the guards that were stationed around the borders of the city, to the location of the portal. Of course she was unsure about doing this, and she had had second thoughts, but her determination overcame her fear as she located the portal in an alleyway on the main street. One of her biggest concerns was that Twilight was no longer near the portal's exit, and that she and her friends have already journeyed off to find their way back to Equestria, assuming they were no longer in the country.

"This is it," Luna said quietly to herself as she focused her magic into her horn, and shot out a bullet of energy right into the spark floating above the ground.

The spark immediately expanded into a large ball of shiny steel. It was very ominous to Luna—the sphere was unwavering and didn't make a noise, it simply hovered motionlessly in front of her, giving a slight tug at her horn, beckoning her to enter it.

Luna took a deep breath and flew straight into the portal, ready to face whatever lay on the other side. Her body created small ripples in the surface of the sphere, as if she was entering a ball of water.

Inside, Luna was in a dark ball, a tiny circular room inside the sphere. Beyond the seamless surface of the sphere was a vivid and strange version of the world. Luna was speechless as she watched everything around her suddenly change at the speed of light. She could see the outside from inside of the sphere, only the entire world outside appeared very warped and twisted; all the colors things were supposed to have been were completely different. The world changed so rapidly that she couldn't even make out what was going on, or where she was going. After only several seconds had passed, the entire world came to a screeching halt, and Luna could finally see outside of the sphere that she was in a small acre of grass, a house to her right. The sphere dropped her onto the ground and disappeared in a shower of sparks and light.

Disoriented, she slowly got up onto her hooves, head dizzy, and her stomach feeling ready to relinquish her of her breakfast. She could feel her entire body pulsing. No, wait a minute. That wasn't her, it was…music?

Luna was now aware of the loud rhythmic booming from inside the house she had teleported next to. Taking a quick glance around, she couldn't see anything out of the ordinary from this suburban neighborhood, though everything felt…different. Bringing her attention back to the noise coming from the house, she decided to investigate it. If Twilight had been brought to the same place Luna had, she may have taken refuge in the closest house, assuming the ponies that lived there were hospitable enough. It had been only one day since the incident, so hopefully they were still there…

Luna walked up to a large glass patio door to peer inside the house. The music she had clearly heard now suddenly stopped, and she heard somebody say something.

"…Every day I'm shuffling."

Luna was startled when the music suddenly started booming again, but what really overcame her was when she saw the weirdest looking creature she had ever laid her eyes upon. Some tall, bipedal creature, perhaps a head taller than she was and no hair, save for the curly mass of it on the top of its head. It was doing what appeared to be some strange…mating dance, perhaps? It kept bobbing its head and was walking in place, pumping its fists back and forth. She should probably leave before the thing sees her…

"PRINCESS LUNA!"

Luna twirled around at the sound of the voice, recognizing it immediately. She saw Twilight Sparkle in a doorway to the backdoor of the building several yards away. Without a second thought, they both ran up to each other, a huge smile spread across Luna's face, tears of joy streaming down Twilight's.

"I can't believe you came! We received the letter from you earlier, but we weren't sure how long it could take before you found out a way to bring us back!" Formalities completely forgotten, Twilight grasped Luna around the neck; she was hugging her extremely tight, as if she was afraid that Luna would disappear if she let go.

Luna gave Twilight a comforting pat on the back. "It's alright Twilight Sparkle, you're all going to be fine now. By the way, where are Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy?"

Twilight's was talking fast, still extremely excited. "Oh! They are inside the house! Also, Fluttershy is pretty sick because of the cold weather or something," Luna shivered, now aware of the freezing outdoor air, "and we need to get her out of this world and into a hospital because Pierce doesn't think it's a good idea to give a pony human medicine, and-"

The last part of what Twilight had said caught Luna's attention. "What? What do you mean by 'this world'…and what is a 'human'?"

"Oh, uh, the metal ball thingy took us to the human world, which I think is an alternate universe or something…" Twilight had already accepted all this strange information as fact, but now that she was close to getting back home she was ready to do some investigating and question-solving. But first she needed to tell Rainbow and Fluttershy the good news. "Come with me, Luna!"

Twilight escorted Luna through the door, both of them walking through the garage to another door leading inside the house. "Pierce is a human that lives in this house, and there are a bunch of humans that live on this planet. Ponies exist too, but they aren't even sentient beings! In fact, none of the animals that live here, sans the humans, are intelligent in the slightest! What do you make of that, Princess? OH!-" After having just remembered Luna's royal position, she quickly bowed in place; she was sorry that she hadn't done so sooner.

"Please, Twilight Sparkle, I require no need for such formalities. Anyways, I'm very curious about this 'Pierce' you speak of. Wait, was that the two-legged thing I saw in the window just now?" Luna hadn't known what to think about the strange dance he had been doing.

"Uh, yeah, probably. He's teaching Rainbow Dash how to do the 'shuffle' or something. I was just about to get some fresh air myself," Twilight looked over excitedly to the alicorn again, "and out of nowhere, YOU showed up! This is great!"

Exiting the hallway into the large living room, Twilight tried to get Pierce's attention with a waving of her hoof, since the music was too loud for anyone to hear anything else. Pierce was facing the opposite direction, surveying Rainbow's version of the shuffle—having to do it differently since she had two extra legs and no arms. Rainbow saw Twilight, and greeted her with a nod of her head, then her jaw dropped when Luna came out the hallway as well.

"LUNA!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.

Pierce whirled around to see the validity of Rainbow's claim. His jaw dropped as well when he saw the royal alicorn walking into his living room. He hastily shut off the "Party Rock Anthem" he had been playing to give her his full attention; she was certainly giving him her full attention, eyeing him up and down, giving him a full once-over. He stuttered as she examined him, "Uh, um…wha? Er-" What do you do when a princess is just staring at you, not saying anything? Should he bow? Come to think of it, Luna never did like it when other ponies acted really formal and kept bowing to her. Actually, that was just what he had read in all the Luna fanfics that had been written prior to the Nightmare Night episode, so…

Pierce hastily bowed to Luna, "Princess," he acknowledged. Luna rolled her eyes; even this creature that didn't even know her was doing those stupid formalities. Wait—he knew she was a princess? Sure, she was wearing the crown and the fancy footwear, but how exactly did he know she was a princess, and not a queen or something to that extent?

"You know who I am?" she questioned the human.

"Eeyup," Pierce replied with an air of pride in his voice, "you are Princess Luna, pony princess of the moon and one of the two alicorn sisters that rule the Principality of Equestria, along with your sister Celestia, princess of the sun."

Luna turned to Twilight, doubt on her face. "Are you sure it is a good idea to tell this human so much of our land? I mean, no offense to you," she said reassuringly to Pierce, who just shrugged, "but this strange world has quite a few unknowns, and we don't want to jump headfirst into diplomatic affairs with a common citizen. Again, no offense," she said again to Pierce.

"None taken, I understand. But Princess Luna, there is something that you _don't_ understand." Pierce said this with a tone of cockiness; though he wasn't offended by Luna's remarks, he still enjoyed telling off somebody that gave him a bad rap, no matter who it may be. He gave Luna a moment to look confused, and then continued, "See, I've known just about everything about Twilight Sparkle and her friends without her having to tell me, including their adventures in Ponyville ever since she traveled there for the Summer Sun Celebration. Besides," he had refined his speech since that last time he told it, now keeping the plot twist at the end on purpose, "it _is_ my favorite TV show, so why wouldn't I know so much?"

Luna's eyebrows had scrunched more and more as Pierce kept talking the impossible, but that final statement really did it for her. She had no idea what to think anymore. "…What?"

Twilight chimed in to help Luna understand the situation, "We're all trying to figure out exactly how this is, but it is true Princess. Pierce is one of many 'bronies': adult human men that watch a show called 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic' that features my friends and I, including any of the misadventures we have had over the years. I've taken a look at the episodes and the vast 'fanbase' surrounding us all; you in particular are _very_ popular, you should be proud!" Twilight felt it was best that she didn't mention to Luna the "Trollestia". Pierce himself hadn't wanted Celestia's Faithful Student to know that most people saw the Alicorn of the Sun as a jerk that used other's turmoil for her own enjoyment, mainly because he knew how Twilight would react when she discovered this. His hypothesis on her reaction when she found out had been right on the dot, but she had gotten over it by now. It took a lot of explaining from Pierce to the three ponies that not all bronies were 'in their right mind', as he put it (he himself had found Trollestia jokes hilarious, but he wasn't going to tell his favorite pony that). Thankfully, rule 34 was a topic that hadn't been brought up since it appeared in the Google autocomplete.

"So…there are more of you people that know so much about Equestria?" Luna asked.

"What do you mean, you people?" Pierce replied instantly.

"These, er…'bronies', as you put it."

"Well, if I were to guess, there's probably hundreds of thousands of 'em, if not a million or two." Just a rough guesstimate, Pierce really had no clue how many bronies existed.

Luna seemed to have a hard time comprehending, or perhaps accepting, this crazy information she had just been told. When she had entered that portal, she expected to come out in another part of the world—that is, their world—at the worst. Instead, she had uncovered another dimension full of tall bipedal beings that watched a show about her and her subjects for entertainment. It made her feel so…what was it she felt? There was a strange feeling in her heart, but she didn't know how to explain it; helplessness, loneliness, perhaps even witlessness or stupidity. Seeing her strained reaction to everything happening, Rainbow walked up to the princess and put a hoof over her shoulder.

"Hey…c'mon, cheer up Princess. There's gotta be a good explanation for all of this—and you, and me, and Twilight and everypony else is gonna work their brains off if it means finding an answer. I'm just as confused as you are, but now isn't the time to question all this weird stuff going on. It's about time we went back home—Fluttershy is still sick, and we should really get her to a pony hospital."

Luna shook off the bad feelings and smiled to Rainbow for comforting her before saying, "Ah, yes, Twilight Sparkle had mentioned earlier that the cold weather had given her a fever. Where is she at the moment?"

Pierce pointed to the pink tail sticking out from under a blanket on the living room couch. Fluttershy, having been mentioned, peeked out from under the blanket to see if she had been spotted. Upon meeting eyes with the dreaded Nightmare Moon, she quickly slid the blanket back over her face, uttering a weak "meep!" in the process.

"Dammit, Fluttershy! Now's not the time for this!" Pierce didn't like being mean to the shy pegasus, but this really wasn't a time for her to freak out over a harmless pony. Besides, how does that probably make Luna feel?

Fluttershy uneasily lifted the blanket from her head again, obeying Pierce's suddenly authoritative figure. Her bloodshot eyes were clearly visible now; while her mentality had stabled and she no longer had any bad headaches, her physical condition was still declining, and she had started to cough earlier in the morning. While she wasn't in desperate need for medical attention, it would be in her best interest if she got some form of medicine soon.

"Now, Princess Luna?" Twilight was eager to get to the point now, "How are we going to get back to Equestria?"

Luna smiled to the unicorn, happy that she now had knowledge of an actual plan they could carry out. "As the portal we have entered was a one-way-in portal, a small group of soldiers and I went out to locate a one-way-out counterpart to it, which had actually been a success. With a few calculations and estimations, I can find out the location of this one-way-out portal and effectively activate it in Equestria from this human realm with my magic."

The room grew silent. There was one more small detail that everyone had forgotten to mention to Luna. And now, because of this, what will become of her plan?

Luna looked uneasily at the other four in the room, all of them now looking around the room, trying to avoid eye contact with her. She didn't want to believe what she thought they meant by this, but she had a feeling that that was the only answer. Without a second thought, she drew her magic into her horn to make sure that everything was in check. Except that nothing happened. Luna was slowly going into a panic as she realized the gravity of their situation. Her carefully mapped plan had just ripped at the seams, and now they were all stranded in an unfamiliar world.

"Yeah…um…magic doesn't work here." Pierce finally said.


	11. Preparations

*Author's Note: If anyone notices an obvious spelling or grammar error, please don't hesitate to PM me about it and tell exactly which chapter and paragraph, ect. it's in. Also, don't hesitate to review my story, as I'd love to hear (constructive) criticism and your own opinions!(i.e. what you personally like/don't like about the story and such)*

She still hadn't finished her mail route. The thought had just hit Derpy, but it's not like her body was going to comply with her even if she had wanted to finish the route, nor was Blanc going to let anypony stall the mission any longer.

She was just finishing up packing her bags back at her house in Cloudsdale, which was on high alert after hearing what had happened at Ponyville. All the other ponies were also gathering their things, and after they were all finished packing for what could potentially be a very long and treacherous journey, they were going to meet back up at Canterlot Castle.

Ponyville's lockdown was still in effect, but Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie had been allowed access through the perimeter in order to grab anything they may need for the trip that they hadn't brought with them during the evac. The three were now on their way out of Ponyville and on the road to Canterlot, where Blanc was waiting with a chariot back to the royal city.

"So…how far do you think we will end up traveling?" Rarity was concerned that they had absolutely no clue where they were going to end up at the end of all this.

"Ah don't know, Rarity…I certainly hope this alicorn fella ain't too far away from Canterlot, or Equestria for that matter." Applejack was also concerned. She didn't even want to do this. Frankly, what did any of them have to gain from bringing Omega back? Sure, it's a good idea to save him from the prison Discord had apparently trapped him in. On that matter, they hadn't really thought much about the story Celestia had told them. "Y'know, I can't believe that Discord had beaten an alicorn that supposedly had the power of a god. I mean, the princess said that he had even trapped him in another dimension! Ah didn't even know Discord could do that; with all the power Celestia had claimed Omega had, you'd think Discord wouldn't have been a challenge for him. And if Discord could beat such a powerful alicorn, what surprises me the most is that he was defeated by us six simple ponies."

"Well, Celestia said that she and Luna used the Elements of Harmony to defeat him, right?" Pinkie spoke up, something she hadn't done in a while, "perhaps the alicorn didn't have that to use? I mean, even _we_ were able to beat Discord with the Elements!"

"You say that like we shouldn't have been capable of doing so." Rarity piped up.

"But it's like Applejack said: Discord had beaten a super-duper-powerful alicorn after a battle of HUGE proportions! He even TRAPPED HIM IN ANOTHER DIMENSION! You gotta be really really really strong to do that, and yet, we're just six regular ponies! It _musta_ been the Elements that let us defeat him!"

"Well then that's some _very_ powerful magic there." Applejack replied.

"Maybe we should ask Princess Celestia about them later, if we get the chance. Actually, there is still a lot that we don't seem to know that I would like to find out." Rarity said, remembering the document heist she and Derpy had attempted only hours ago. Time really was passing slowly today—it felt like that had happened days ago, and the disappearance of Twilight and the others felt like weeks. "Just before the fiasco that happened after Derpy touching that 'hivemind spark', she told me that she received some info from the whiteboards and papers strewn across the Princesses' private room, but she never got to telling what it was."

Pinkie was interested by this. "Is Derpy gonna meet up with us here in Ponyville? Otherwise, we may not have another opportunity to talk in private without those other two ponies around…"

"Yeah, Derpy's gonna go straight back to Canterlot, ah'm afraid. I don't see why we need those other two to come with us anyways; we have held our own in countless occasions before!"

"You DO realize who Blanc Shimmer and Dreamcatcher are, don't you?" Rarity asked her two friends, showing an exaggeratingly shocked face at them when they shook their heads. "They are two of the three Head Captains of Equestria's Royal Army, that's who they are! They are the best of the best—each in charge of a branch of the pony guards: Blanc Shimmer, the swift flier and daredevil, who created his own signature move, 'The Earthquake', and is in charge of the pegasi branch; Iron Crusher, the earth pony captain who lives up to his name, with a kick that can destroy rocks and sporting skin that doesn't tear from the impact of a blade; and Dreamcatcher, the unicorn with a seemingly endless reservoir of magic, master of mind charms, and the head of the unicorn branch. Everypony knows who they are, why don't you two!"

"Ah didn't realize the ERA's (Equestrian Royal Army) head captains were 'sposed to be general knowledge. And if they are as powerful as you claim, why are two of them leaving the control of their respective branches to join us in the search?"

"Because Princess Celestia said so," Pinkie stated bluntly.

Applejack shook her head in disbelief. "Question one: why would it be better for us four and those two to look for Omega instead of, say, a single head captain leading their branch with Derpy; question two: where is this 'Iron Crusher' and how come he isn't helping out at all; and question three: if those two are the leaders of a division of our own army, why in Equestria would they up and leave it?"

Rarity didn't entirely agree with this whole situation either, but she at least tried to give some explanation for it, and for Celestia's seemingly derailed train of logic recently. "Due to what we as a group have accomplished in the past, Princess Celestia probably feels we have the highest chance of success in retrieving Omega, to answer your first question; to answer both your second and third questions, I believe that though they are the 'head captains', those three are not charged with complete and constant authority over their branch, and since Equestria is a peaceful country their duties can range anywhere from military to diplomacy, which is what I can only assume Iron Crusher is doing right now—a diplomatic affair."

"Wow, Rarity," said a surprised Pinkie, "you sure know tons of stuff about Equestria's government and branches and stuff!"

Rarity smiled at the complement, "Well, I suppose when you run a large fashion boutique, you hear many things from all the high-status customers from around the country, you become interested enough to look into more. Twilight Sparkle had been more than happy to teach me just about everything involving Canterlot and Equestria when I went in to ask one day."

"Speakin' ah Twilight, I wonder when Luna is gonna come back with those ponies? She hadn't said how long she expected it to take, so…"

"I guess we can only hope for now…" Pinkie said hopefully, but sadly—she hadn't seen her friend since that morning, but the thought that she and the others were in some unknown place by accident made her fear for her friends and want to see them come back as soon as possible.

"Ah! There you fillies are—it took you long enough, let's get going before I die of boredom!" Blanc spotted the girls as they came over the top of a hill, the embedded city of Canterlot on the misty horizon. "Dreamer and that pegasus had better be ready by the time we get there…" he started muttering to himself, and the girls tried their hardest not to listen—Blanc was becoming increasingly stressed; adventure was just around the corner, a sweet relief from the nothing he'd been doing for a few months now, but it kept getting pushed back bit by bit from everypony else that he was forced to go along with. Going with the calm, patient, and not-headfirst Dreamcatcher was certainly not going to help…

* * *

><p>"What took you so long?" Dreamcatcher teased the white pegasus as he flew down onto the small runway in the back of the castle; Pinkie, Rarity, and Applejack's hair were all frozen in place, shooting straight backward from the wind rushing past them during Blanc's rushed flying.<p>

Blanc scowled at the unicorn for teasing him, and she gave a sly smile back. Blanc was honestly surprised at her behavior, as she was usually extremely serious and wasn't one for jokes. He cocked an eyebrow at her, "You okay?"

"Oh, so suddenly I can't have a little fun? I didn't know I required permission from you before I can have an emotion."

"Don't put words into my mouth. I'm just surprised that you are actually _having _a freaking emotion right now."

"I have emotion!" Dreamcatcher was now insulted. How dare he insinuate that she has no feelings or emotions?

"Well, yeah, but I figured you wouldn't want me to count your annoyance and rage towards me as an emotion." Blanc retorted.

Before Dreamcatcher could give a comeback, Applejack broke in. "Alright, alright. Now will the both of ya just shut yer pie holes? I didn't come all this way to listen to two ponies have an argument about whether somepony has emotions or not." She glared first at Blanc, then at Dreamcatcher. Applejack herself felt somewhat scared to try and intimidate the Head Captains of the ERA, but she held her ground anyway, and it actually worked.

Blanc looked back over to Dreamcatcher. "Sorry, Dreamer, I didn't mean to say that. Sometimes my mouth just kinda…"

"Doesn't know when to zip it?" Dreamcatcher didn't say this snidely, but rather apologetically, and gave a small smile of 'sorry' to Blanc.

"Er, yeah." Blanc returned the smile.

"I'm impressed, Applejack; I've never actually seen these two make up before." Everyone turned their heads to see the brilliant white alicorn enter the open room, and they each bowed to the pony princess. She also smiled to both Blanc and Dreamcatcher, who each looked away from her in embarrassment. "Anyways, now that everypony is here," as she said this, Derpy came flying into the room (everyone stared jaw-dropped at Celestia's apparent fortune-telling skills), "I would like to brief you all on where you're general destination is, and I will answer any questions you may have for me. That doesn't involve the history of Omega, because, as I said before, he will be able to tell it much better than I ever could," she added at the end.

Everyone was giving Celestia their full attention as she prepared to speak. Even Blanc was listening, though he was about ready to burst from wait after wait to get the mission started. "After further discussion with Derpy Hooves earlier, it seems the general direction of where you all are headed is north. Depending on how far you go, you'll first be walking through the thin deserted grass plains, but will eventually head into the mountain ranges. Hopefully, you will not end up there, but I have good reason to believe that it will be your destination. Also, if you end up reaching the northern shore, I suggest you all turn back. If Omega is trapped somewhere beneath the Blue Sea, or resides somewhere over the sea in Stalliongrad or Mairocco, it would be a good idea to regroup back here and come up with another plan. Should you reach the north shores, head for the Triembassy—there, you will find ponies that will provide a quick travel back here to Canterlot. Is everything I have just said clear?"

All the ponies nodded their heads, except Dreamcatcher, who gave Celestia a questioning look. "If we should take a quick form of travel back to Canterlot from the Triembassy, why should we have walk all the way to there?"

Blanc sighed at Dreamcatcher; of all ponies, how could she have forgotten? "This mare-" he pointed to Derpy, "-has the location hidden in her unconsciousness, and can only show us the way when her hooves are firmly placed on the ground. If we reach the north shore, there would be no need to follow her mental map anymore, and we could then use flight as a form of travel." The unicorn had remembered halfway through his speech and has motioned to him that she now understood, but he felt like finishing up what he wanted to say, much to her discontent.

"Um…" Pinkie now spoke up, "if we reach the northern shore, how are we supposed to find this 'Triembassy'?"

Celestia answered, "The Triembassy is on a small island in the middle of the Blue Sea, but I believe Blanc Shimmer and Dreamcatcher have gone there enough times to know the location of the bridge to it." She motioned to the two head captains, who nodded in confirmation. "In fact, Iron Crusher is there right now on diplomatic affairs with Mairocco."

Rarity gave Applejack and Pinkie an 'I told you so' look.

There was an awkward silence now. The ponies all glanced around at each other, waiting for someone to say something or ask a question. Eventually all of their eyes rested on Blanc, who was trembling a little at this point. Noticing this, Celestia tried to pick up the pace, not wanting the head of her Pegasus Division to lose his sanity, "If there are no further questions, you may now all begin your journey. I hope that it will be a swift and stress-free one." She gave one last smile of confidence to the group.

"ALRIGHTY EVERYPONY IF WE DON'T MOVE _RIGHT NOW,_ I'M GONNA HAVE A _HERNIA_." Even more emotion overcame Dreamcatcher, who wore a face of surprise, amusement, and fear at Blanc. She had never seen him like this. Just how long has it been since he did anything he deemed 'exciting'? It must have been months, she mused to herself.

At Blanc's last statement, none of the ponies hesitated to descend the steps of the open-air runway to the back of Canterlot Castle, heading toward the northern steps down the mountain, Derpy Hooves and her unconsciousness leading the way.


	12. Dropping In

"Will you two please SHUT THE BUCK UP!"

Applejack wasn't the only one that was fed up with their constant back-and-forth; she was just the only one who had the audacity to tell off the Head Captains of the ERA.

"Tell HIM to stop whining!"

"Hey, I'm not used to walking this much! My hooves are sore, alright? It's not my fault!"

"Well maybe if you didn't have your head in the clouds so often, you could actually walk a mile without whining so much!"

"HEY, I am NOT whining, okay! _I _am complaining! You wanna _hear_ whining?"

"For the love of Celestia YOU TWO ARE WORSE THAN CHILDREN! How the hell did you two even get such high rankings of command?" Applejack was reaching the end of her last nerve at this point. Her major concern when they started their trek had been whether or not they would succeed, how long the journey would take, what danger they may run into…

Now, her only concern was whether or not she would be able to keep herself from strangling those two. Since the moment intervened at the runway in Canterlot, she had basically become the self-appointed mediator between Dreamcatcher and Blanc. They had been walking for about six hours now, and the sun was just between the zenith and the horizon, the northern horizon of which now sported the tips of the gray mountains in the distance. To either side of them, in the grassy plains, there were clearly visible mountains to the west and east, and the plains themselves began to funnel into the mountains the further north you went. They were making good time; they couldn't even see Canterlot behind them anymore.

Dreamcatcher sighed hard, "I'm sorry Applejack—sorry everypony. I really don't know, it's just that when I'm around _him_," she turned sharply to Blanc, "I become much more…animated than I normally am." She began to talk with Blanc one-on-one, "I've been around you for a fair amount of my adulthood, but never have I had to go on a journey with you in which you are one of the only ponies accompanying me. I'm simply not used to you, I suppose." She sighed again.

Blanc was thinking quietly to himself now. 'Worse than children', he mused to himself. He didn't know if it was simply coincidence, or because of the past they shared that the two of them acted this way around each other. Of course, only he remembered any of it—he didn't expect Dreamcatcher to remember him from way back then, especially when he looked like every other generic pegasus guard for the ERA.

Little discussion had gone on during the past six hours, every once in a while a pony or two sparking a conversation that eventually died down with time. The only constant was Dreamcatcher's and Blanc's constant bickering. It was an endless back-and-forth, and they really were acting like children, each one rebutting the other, no matter what the other said, be it 'the air smells weird' or 'hey, look at that butterfly over there'.

"How about we have a nice long while of peace and quiet?" Derpy hadn't said much at all during this entire time, as she was busy trying to focus on their path. While it wasn't necessary at all for her to think about where she was going—her body was literally moving on its own—she was still trying to tap into her unconsciousness, trying to bring out even the tiniest bit of info to actually be aware of. She had learned a few things in the princesses' private room, but after the events that followed, and the story Celestia and Luna had told them, none of it really mattered anymore. Now, they were on their way to rescue an alicorn from an eternal prison.

Three more hours passed by with little event, though now the mountains that had been far in the distance were becoming very present, trees were beginning to pop up around the path, and the terrain became more uneven. Everyone became apprehensive as they entered the valley forests in the mountains; this was a haven for thugs and bandits, at least, that's what the rumors were. The group was travelling the main road from Canterlot to the northern shore, the path leading right onto the bridge that connected Equestria with the Triembassy; Blanc and Dreamcatcher had traversed this road many times to go to the Triembassy, and not once had they ever met any opposition. Though it was worth noting that they always had at least ten of their best soldiers alongside them when they went. Here, the two of them didn't really stick out as a threat among the four commoners they were travelling with. The only one that did pose a threat visually was Blanc, who was wearing the ERA's standard golden pegasus armor.

The sun was creeping up on the horizon as the ponies ventured deeper into the valley forest. It was nothing like Everfree—it was a simple, plain forest of average trees, but a forest at night is still a forest at night, and none of the ponies enjoyed being in there one bit.

Dreamcatcher spoke up to ease the tension, "Eventually, we will meet a small building near this road. It's there for travelers that need a place to stay, and I'm sure all of you would prefer to sleep through the night than walk in it."

"Yes, PLEASE. All this stress is certainly bad for my complexion, so I could really use some much-needed beauty sleep right now." Rarity said.

"Keep your eyes peeled for a small wooden door in the bushes, then." Blanc replied.

"Eh?" Derpy, like the other three, didn't understand.

Dreamcatcher explained, "Well, you don't want anypony—or any_thing_, for that matter—to go and wander into a safehouse in the middle of the forest, do you? That's why it was built underground, and it's actually very hard to spot if you are not looking for it."

"In fact," Blanc added, "it's impossible to spot without prior knowledge of its location. Only those that Celestia send along this path to the Triembassy are told of its location and of how to get inside, so just leave the finding it part to me and Dreamer."

Another twenty minutes passed without a word; Derpy, Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie were all waiting for Dreamcatcher or Blanc to speak up, so say 'hey, there it is!'

"Hmm…" All the ponies stopped and turned to look at Dreamcatcher, who had paused and put a hoof to her chin, "I think we may have passed it."

"…Wat."

"What? Don't look at me like that, it's not like I use the place every other day. Our trips on this road are usually planned out so that we travel through this forest during the day, to avoid having to use it. But, I'm pretty sure we should have seen it by now, shouldn't we have, Blanc?"

"Dunno." Blanc stated flatly. "If we did, we may as well continue forward; there's no point in wandering around back and forth on this road in the middle of the night trying to find the safehouse. If we don't see immediately, I say we continue on."

"No thank you," Rarity said, glaring at the pegasus, "there is no way I'm going to wander out here in the dark forest at night, where anything could pop up an-"

"Oh, hey, there it is." Blanc pointed to a bush on the side of the road. It looked like any other bush, actually.

"Oh, yes, that is it." Dreamcatcher walked up to the bush. She closed her eyes and there was a flash of magic from her horn, and then the bush flipped open—it was resting on top of a trapdoor.

"Wait, that's it?" Applejack questioned, "That's the secret entrance? It seems it'd be mighty easy for anypony to go and waltz down into there."

"Except that it requires a password," Dreamcatcher retorted, glowing her horn again to give an example. "Unicorns are given a simple password spell that opens the door, while non-unicorns have the spell implemented into their hoof, which is harder to do," she pointed at Blanc's hoof, and he raised it up and waved it around to show to the other ponies, "so more unicorns have access to this place than do pegasi and earth ponies. Without the password, this simple wooden door is as hard as steel, and as tightly locked as a bank vault."

"Enough chit-chat! Let's get inside, the sun's going down!" Pinkie was the first to rush through the door and down the staircase below.

Derpy's voice rang out from a distance ahead. "Can somepony please grab me? My body doesn't seem to realize we're taking a break..."

* * *

><p>It was a very small, quaint, two-room shelter, consisting of a kitchendining room and a bedroom. It actually felt more like a fallout shelter than it did anything else. Since visitors were scarce and the visits themselves few between, the only source of food in the kitchen was canned non-perishables, and the only source of heat was a vintage wood-stove. There were a few old, musty sleeping bags and blankets in cubbies within the bedroom. Thankfully for the group, they had brought their own supplies and sleepwear. After having a quick bite to eat, they all got out their own sleeping bags and were getting some well-deserved sleep.

*Tap-tap-tap*

Applejack sat up suddenly, waking up to hear the sound of something rapping against the door up the stairs. As she did, she saw Derpy was also awake, and had already gotten up to peer up the staircase, wondering what the noise was.

*Tap-tap-tap*

"Derpy!" Applejack whispered.

Startled, the pegasus whirled around to look at Applejack, calming down once she realized where the voice had come from. She asked Applejack, "You hear it too?"

"Yeah, what the hay is that noise?" Derpy only shrugged to Applejack. "Do you think we should go check it-"

*Tap. Tap. Tap.*

The sound had grown louder. Something was obviously trying to get the attention of whoever was inside.

"I think we should wake up Dreamcatcher and Blanc," Derpy whispered to the farm pony. Applejack nodded in agreement, and each went to wake one of them up.

"Uh…huh?" Dreamcatcher awoke to see Applejack shaking her shoulder. Glancing over, she saw Derpy doing the same to wake up Blanc. He didn't even waver from his sleep, so Derpy shook him harder. Nothing. Derpy shrugged again and turned her attention to Dreamcatcher, who was now more or less awake. "What is it g-"

*TAP. TAP. TAP.*

Dreamcatcher immediately went into full-alert mode. Standing up, she glanced up the staircase to the trapdoor, knowing know what the two ponies had woken her up for. She looked back at Derpy and Applejack, who both looked back with a 'now what?' expression on their face. Dreamcatcher slowly, carefully, treaded up the several steps and put her ear up next to the door, attempting to listen in on any conversations that may be going on. She would've used her magic to scan the intruder's thoughts, but she had no clue what was on the other side of that door, and didn't want to alert it to her presence. She suddenly heard the voice of…a young filly?

"Are you sure that's where they went?" the voice said.

Another voice spoke up, "Ah have no clue, but if I were ta guess, they probably are. If only Sweetie Belle hadn't had to go and take a break…"

"I was tired! I needed to take a breather!" a third voice spoke.

"How do you get tired when you're riding in a wagon? If any of us should be tired, it should be _me_ because I was the only one doing anything!" the first voice said.

They had been followed? Dreamcatcher was confused; it sounded like they were a couple of fillies, but why would children be following them, especially since nopony else knew where they were going or what their mission was?

*TAP TAP TAP*

Dreamcatcher decided to take her chances. She motioned for Applejack and Derpy to join by her side in front of the door, getting ready to attack if the intruders were found to be malicious. On a silent count of three, Dreamcatcher grabbed the door with her magic and swung it open. The three ponies jumped out the hole in the ground to meet the mysterious disrupters. They didn't see anyone, but a second later they saw three fillies fall onto the ground, apparently flung into the air from the swinging open of the trapdoor. Dreamcatcher meet their eyes with a face of attack, Derpy with a face of confusion, and Applejack with a face of genuine anger.

"APPLEBLOOOOOM! What in _tarnations_ are you doing here! I _thought_ I had said that you're to stay in Canterlot with Big Mac and Granny Smith!"

"Ah'm sorry, I-I just wanted to know what you were doing! Sweetie Belle was worried about Rarity too and since this mornin' with what happened to Twilight an' Fluttershy-"

"-And Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo interrupted. "We thought that maybe you guys were going to go save them, and we wanted to come along!"

By this time, Pinkie Pie and Rarity were coming up the stairs as well to see what all the ruckus was about. Blanc was now snoring in a sound sleep.

"_Sweetie Belle!_ I TOLD you to stay with mother and father! How do you think they are going to feel when find out their youngest daughter is missing, if they haven't already?"

Sweetie Belle looked down at the ground. "But I-"

"I don't care what the reason is; you three are going back to Canterlot RIGHT THIS INSTANT!" Rarity yelled to the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"Sorry, no can do."

All the ponies turned around to see Blanc coming up the stairs, and he looked upset. "You three following us was a very stupid idea on your part. We're way too far away from Canterlot for the three of you to go alone, and we can't afford to drop somepony out of this group to escort you back. And there is no way in hell all six of us are going to take you back—our mission is to go forward, to follow Derpy, and that mission is currently our top priority." He looked at Applejack and Rarity, "I'm sorry, but they have no choice but to tag along. Since we're all awake, we may as well pack our things and get a move on—you can see the sun starting to rise, so it wouldn't make sense to sleep in." Blanc walked back down the steps, not batting an eyelash at the unfortunate events that have just occurred. Great, just great. Now they had three little fillies tagging along, they were nothing but a burden.

Applejack and Rarity were still glaring at their respective sisters. The Cutie Mark Crusaders kept staring down at the ground in guilt.

* * *

><p>"Just how long is this path to the north shore? And is that really where Derpy's body is taking us? Because it sure seems that way…" Rarity said as they were once again on the trail, three little fillies not far behind.<p>

"Frankly, Rarity, I don't know. I simply don't know, alright? I suppose we'll get there when we get there." Blanc replied in an irritated tone.

Scootaloo really wanted to know exactly _what_ it was they were doing, but she felt now wasn't a very good time to speak up. Everyone was still furious with her, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle.

Derpy started snoring. Everyone glanced up to the pony heading the group, whose head was tilted down, but her body was still walking. Pinkie tripped on a rock while distracted, causing Dreamcatcher to bump head-first into her backside.

It was going to be a long day.


	13. Ambush

*Author's Note: Just as a warning to people who may not like it, the next few chapters are going to be very centered around OC's more than actual MLP canon characters. I doubt anyone's going to have a real problem with this, but just as a head's up.*

"Ooooh, man, I can feel it…" Blanc said ominously.

"THE BOREDOM. IT'S SETTING IN. IT HAS BEGUN!" he cried at the top of his lungs.

Dreamcatcher opened her mouth to speak, but the ERA's Head Captain immediately shut up when she received a glare from Applejack.

"Ah thought _you_ were the one who had been gettin' all angry at us all for complainin' 'bout nothing to do earlier," she said to Blanc, saying what Dreamcatcher was about to, but in a way that wouldn't end up becoming another childish back-and-forth argument.

Blanc sighed heavily as he drooped his head, looking forward out into the forest, a seemingly never-ending span of trees in the mountain valley. "The fresh air has been nice and all, but I'd REALLY like to do something other than walking for the next decade."

For once, the other ponies had to agree; since that morning, when the CMC had dropped in unexpectantly, all that the group of nine had done was walk in a never-ending straight line—Derpy's body was always leading the way, whether she herself was conscious or not. Very little conversation had happened the entire day, and Rarity and Applejack were still furious about their little sisters deciding to follow them on their mission, so the little fillies still had no clue what was going on, and were too afraid to ask.

It was mid-afternoon by now, and the now-sky-high mountain peaks were blocking the sun's direct glow, the narrow valley-forest being cast in a dark shadow. The forest itself had a peculiar sense about it—it was nothing like the dark, creepy presence of Everfree Forest, but something still felt…out of place. There was little to no activity from the wildlife in the forest. Actually, there didn't even seem to be any wildlife; every once in a while, you may see a bird fly overhead, or a nut or leaf fall off a tree branch onto the road, preceded by a small snap of a twig, but none of the ponies had seen or heard a single animal the entire time they had been in the forest. It was unsettling, to say the least. Perhaps the best explanation for the forest's "peculiar sense" was how it looked completely normal—green leaves, light brown bark, long grass and short shrubs lining the dirt road—but the fact that nothing seemed to want to call this place 'home' gave the entire forest a malevolent feel, as if there was something the animals knew about this place that the ponies didn't.

Dreamcatcher and Blanc were the only ones who didn't take much notice of this. They had ridden this road a couple dozen times, Dreamcatcher more in particular, but they too had thought strange of the absence of life when they had first ventured through.

Another snap of a twig was heard as the ponies noticed a dead leaf fall a few yards ahead of them. "Yeesh," Pinkie said, "this whole forest gives me the heebie jeebies!"

"Meh," Dreamcatcher said, "you get used to it with time. The place really does have a creepy feel, but it's probably just that you guys aren't used to such silence. The first time you walk through here, it really feels as though something is hiding in the bushes, ready to strike you when you have your guard down, doesn't it?" she said, more thinking aloud than she was advising the others. Unfortunately, the rest of the group didn't take it that way, and they all shuffled nervously at the thought.

"Uh, no, it doesn't really feel like that." Derpy replied, looking back to the unicorn. "At least, it_ didn't_ feel like that…" she whispered to herself, glancing around the dark spots of the trees with her head lowered down.

Dreamcatcher noticed Sweetie Belle and Applebloom cowering in the wagon Scootaloo was pulling after she said that. Realizing what she had implied, she quickly tried to correct herself, "Er, no! I didn't mean that there _is_ something watching us, waiting to hunt us at just the right moment!" She saw Applejack and Rarity look at each other in terror. "No, uh, that's not right! Please, don't get any ideas about some murderous entity watching our every move, it is simply preposterous!" Each word she spoke drove more fear into the ponies' hearts. "Blanc, you've gone through here before, help me out here!"

Blanc cracked a smile at her. "It's like you're slipping down on the same patch of ice each time you try to get back up," he said to her, trying to hold back a laugh. Dreamcatcher huffed at him, but swiftly turned away to avoid causing another argument. Then again, somebody should probably start up a different topic to avoid having the group die from a collective heart attack.

"Oh, don't worry now, everypony," Blanc said, actually trying to help out Dreamcatcher, but more than anything else, trying to calm the three hysterical fillies tagging along, "even if there WAS a monster hiding in the shadows, Dreamer and I would bash their asses into next Tuesday!"

Derpy replied to his statement, but not about the part the others had expected her to, "But tomorrow is Tuesday, so you'd just be bashing them into the next day, which I don't think is really all that far, as far as a metaphor is supposed to go…"

Ignoring her, Applejack and Rarity both turned back and gave Blanc a very cold stare. He realized his mistake of swearing in front of children, "Uh, girls? Never say 'ass', it's a _bad bad_ word." The two older sisters, and Dreamcatcher, all gave him an 'Are you kidding me?' look. He stuttered a bit more, realizing that he didn't give a good example, again. "…Uh, also, you shouldn't say that because you are only little girls. I'm allowed to say it because I'm an adult." The three fillies slowly nodded in understanding; Dreamcatcher smacked him in the back of the head, causing the golden helmet around his head to start resonating in his ears. "OW," he yelled in Dreamcatcher's ear, after the ringing had subsided.

Dreamcatcher glanced at Blanc and cracked a smile at him. "It's like you're trying to dig your way out of a hole. Through a pit of clay. With a kitchen spoon."

Before Blanc could object, it was Derpy who rebutted her statement. "Actually, you can easily dig your way out of a hole by digging stairs out the side of it."

"What are you, a trivia game-show?" Rarity snapped back at the pegasus. Derpy looked behind her to Rarity, a shocked look on her face. Seeing this, Rarity cringed and frowned, "I'm sorry, Derpy dear, I suppose I'm getting towards the end of my wits."

The rest of the group, sans the three who tagged along just this morning, all nodded in silent agreement. The monotony and flat-out enigmatic nature of this entire mission was fraying every last nerve of the already weary ponies. The entire past few days had seemed like an eternity:

Saturday morning was when it had started. It had been a normal day for all the ponies, until Pinkie had discovered the location of the 'one-way-in portal spark' at Ponyville with Twilight Sparkle. About an hour later, Twilight was reported missing along with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. The two hours following that incident was extremely frantic, Princess Celestia herself in full-alert mode and putting all of Ponyville into evac/lockdown. Every resident had been questioned about what they knew or had witnessed, and any witnesses that had seen anything was immediately escorted without question to Canterlot Castle, where each one had been questioned, and the information of each pony's testimony pieced together to by Blanc to try and understand exactly what happened. Afternoon of the same day, Princesses Celestia and Luna went over all the information, and proceeded to brainstorm in their private room, leaving the secondary, mandatory Ponyville evac in the hands of Blanc and the Pegasus Division. They had then sent a letter to Twilight through the portal in Ponyville, only hoping that it would reach her on the other side. By evening, after Celestia's 'eureka' moment, Luna traveled to Everfree with Blanc and Dreamcatcher. That night, Rarity and Derpy caused the 'disturbance' in the library, along with the contact with the 'hivemind spark', which had sent this entire performance into its second act—finding the alicorn Omega. The six that were going to embark on finding him were vaguely briefed on his history, and Luna said that she was going to travel through the portal alone, to the place Twilight and the others had gone. Sunday morning, after receiving some much-needed sleep, everypony had gathered their things and traveled back to Canterlot to begin the trek. After the briefing with Celestia, they began for the north, where Derpy's unconsciousness was leading them, the Cutie Mark Crusaders following their footsteps about a third of a mile behind. The following day and a half had been very uneventful; they made their way into the forest, and late Sunday night they stopped to rest at the hidden safehouse. They were woken up early Monday morning by the three fillies, the unnerving darkness of the forest making them giving up on stealth and want to continue on safely with the group they had been following. From Monday morning to now, late Monday afternoon (perhaps Monday evening—it was hard to tell from the mountains blocking the sun), the group of what was now nine ponies had kept walking without a word, unsure of what, if any, events had gone on while they were gone. Mainly, their worry was for Princess Luna, who they hadn't heard from since she had entered the portal…

…and those were the events of the eon that was the past three days (Author's note: sorry if that seemed really lengthy, but I felt a wrap-up of what has happened and when it happened was kinda necessary at this point ¯\(°_o)/¯ ).

* * *

><p>"How far do you think we are from the northern shore, now?"<p>

Though the sun couldn't be seen, it was obvious that it had passed the horizon by this point. The sky was beginning to reveal the twinkling stars above that hid during the day. To the west, a faint shade of reddish-pink hovered over the looming towers of earth that were the vast mountains. It really was a miracle that the valley road was so straight, concerning the amount of unleveled terrain to each side, the bases of which were perhaps only a mile or two away.

"The northern shore?" Dreamcatcher spoke up, "If I were to guess…let's see…over the past twenty-three times I've went there from Canterlot on foot…the mean average of which, excluding rest times and assuming my velocity while actually walking was exactly one meter per every two seconds—our current speed, mind you—I would say that the distance from Canterlot to the northern shore is approximately…" Blanc gave a look of amusement as she did the math in her head, "…thirty-five kilometers," she said finally, giving a confident nod in confirmation.

"Oh, _please_." Blanc started, and Dreamcatcher gave her own look of amusement towards Blanc, "How can you claim to be so accurate about something like that?"

Dreamcatcher raised her chin up at him, giving her complicated explanation, all the other ponies looking back to her with interest, "Sure, I do have to make certain assumptions in order to do the calculation, but consider this: since yesterday morning, the times we spent walking was about eleven-hundred hours at Canterlot to nineteen-hundred hours when we took a break in the safehouse. We were then disturbed by three young fillies," the Cutie Mark Crusaders hung their heads low, "in the waking hours of the morning, about zero six-hundred hours. We took four fifteen-minute breaks from then until now, which I can only assume is approximately nineteen-hundred hours. Subtracting the differences between the starts and finishes, and subtracting an hour for the breaks, we end up with a total of twenty hours. Keeping with me so far?"

"Yes," Blanc growled, "I'm not a moron, I can do complicated math; also, I thought you were telling us how you know the distance to the northern shore, not how far we've gone."

"If you actually could, I wouldn't the need to explain it to you…" Dreamcatcher muttered under her breath, but saying it just loud enough for Blanc to hear. "Anyway, what I'm doing right now is extending on what I said earlier, Blanc; have some patience. I had counted specifically how long it had taken to reach the Triembassy each time I had went there; now, I have been told multiple times by the ambassador and the guards that the time it takes to get from the gates of the Triembassy to the bridge at the northern shore is six and a half hours by walking. The average speed of a fully-grown pony is half a meter per second, and the total time it took me to get to the Triembassy from Canterlot is forty-six hours. Subtract the six and a half, and you end up with thirty-nine and a half hours to reach the northern shore. Thirty-nine and a half hours, in seconds, is exactly one-hundred forty-two thousand and two-hundred seconds. Multiply that by one half of a meter per second, which in essence is dividing by two seconds per meter, and you end up with seventy-one thousand and one-hundred meters. That's seventy-one kilometers. We've walked for twenty hours, which is exactly seventy-two thousand meters, or seventy-two kilometers. Divide _that_ by two seconds per meter, and we get thirty-six kilometers, pretty much exactly half of the distance to the northern shore." Dreamcatcher puffed her chest out in pride, but to her it really was simple math. Even Derpy, her body still mainly controlled by her unconscious, had stopped in its tracks halfway through the speech to look at Dreamcatcher.

"Ferget Big Macintosh—THAT'S some fancy mathematics." Applejack said in awe.

"Wait, so that means to reach the northern shore…" Sweetie Belle was struggling to do the same math in her head, "…it would take…about another twenty hours?"

"But that's another two days of walking!" Scootaloo added, "One day, if we skip out on sleeping…"

"As Princess Celestia had said," Derpy started, her body beginning to return to its unknown walk towards its destination, "we can only hope Omega _isn't_ in the Blue Sea, or another country, for that matter."

"Omega?" the CMC all questioned in unison.

"Please don't ask," Applejack sighed, exasperated, "we har'ly know anything about 'im ourselves."

Pausing, they looked over to each other, and then decided to keep going onwards without any further questions.

Another crack of a twig sounded faintly in the distance, but none of the ponies had heard it.

Except for Dreamcatcher and Blanc, who stopped dead in place. Another twig snapped, followed by a few moments of complete silence. The others hadn't noticed the two's alertness, and continued going forward. Dreamcatcher and Blanc looked to each other through the corner of their eyes, and carefully began walking again.

The sound of hooves started up, but it wasn't from anyone they knew—it was coming from several yards away on both sides of the road, coming closer to them within the bushes; quietly, but not silently. Then they heard arms being raised up, lifting something to eye-level.

"EVERYPONY GET DOWN!-" Blanc barely had time to get his sentence out before pin-tipped blow-darts shot out at the group from both sides of the dark pathway. Dreamcatcher formed a small barrier around herself, enveloping Blanc as well, the darts sticking into the magic shield, but not penetrating it. The same couldn't be said for the rest of the group. The two head captains watched in horror as a single dart hit square in the neck of each pony, even the little fillies that had come along earlier that morning. As Pinkie had once stated, the first reaction to 'look out' or 'get down' wasn't to do said action, but rather look to see the pony that was yelling in the first place.

It took only seconds as each one fell to the ground, unconscious. Derpy was still walking, her body not caring that she was out cold. A few more darts could be seen shot out at her, until her body too gave up the fight and collapsed to the ground. More darts were being shot at the barrier Dreamcatcher had up.

"Who are they? They got some sorta shield up!" a voice whispered loudly in the bushes.

"Hmph. We may as well come on out, there's no reason to hide our presence anymore," spoke a gray unicorn in a dark, slimy voice, as he came out from the bushes. At least, his snout was gray—the rest of his body was covered in a black cloth suit that bound snugly against his body. He cracked a smile as he glared at the two with black eyes, "I do not know who you two are, but I commemorate your attempt to protect yourself from us. Unfortunately," he began to pace back and forth in front of the two, the barrier still around them, "you cannot win this battle against us." More ponies came out from the bushes, each one wearing the same concealing cloth, each one only discernable from the color of their snouts and eyes; Dreamcatcher counted a total of eleven of them; additionally, she noted that they were all earth ponies. The unicorn continued, "We are an elite team of bandits, and I must say," he stopped pacing and eyed the two, "it appears we've stepped upon Equestrian royalty."

Dreamcatcher looked back at the unconscious bodies lying on the ground a few yards away, and then stared at the unicorn with icy daggers in her eyes. "What do you want with us! We carry only means of shelter and sustenance—anything you seek we certainly do not hold with us!"

The unicorn rubbed his chin thoughtfully, and then smiled at her. "Actually, we're 'elite bandits' for a reason; we don't rob ponies of petty items or large riches. I mean sure, if they are carrying with them a massive jewel or such, we will not hesitate to relinquish them of it, but that's not what we're _after_." There was a pause.

Blanc sneered at him, "So I guess you want to have a little time for a guessing game? Fine, I'll bite! What is it that you 'elite assholes' are after?"

The unicorn wasn't pleased with his last statement. "You wound me. I hadn't even requested anything of you, I'm simply co-mingling. Can I at least have that without you handing out such harsh words?"

Blanc spoke through gritted teeth, "Not when you make a move to render all of us unconscious. I command you, tell us your plans!"

The unicorn smiled slyly and cocked an eyebrow, "I only want what's best for you all. We can go over negotiations once you lower that barrier—unless you'd prefer I do it myself?" He lifted his head, and a pitch-black aura surrounded his horn. A second later, a black bowl-shaped dome, similar to the light shield surrounding Blanc and Dreamcatcher, formed just above the light one the two Head Captains were taking refuge in.

"BLANC!" Dreamcatcher screamed as she used her magic to become invisible, an instant later grabbing Blanc by the tail as she began to run. The black bowl dropped onto the light one, and both vanished into thin air with a shower of light and sparks when they came into contact with each other. By the time the shields had obliterated each other, an invisible Dreamcatcher had ran several feet away, now using her magic to also turn a discombobulated Blanc invisible whilst still being dragged away on the dirt road, away from the other ponies that lay on the ground.

Seeing that they were escaping, something snapped in the unicorn bandit's head, and his calm disposition completely disappeared as his hostility grew. "NO! DON'T LET THEM GET AWAY!" Apparently, the unicorn hadn't expected this, and was becoming panicky when he saw Dreamcatcher make her escape. The henchmen began to give chase, following the trail of dirt that was kicked up by Dreamcatcher's hooves and Blanc's body. Half the ponies were running towards them, while the other half shot more blow-darts at them. They all missed as Dreamcatcher kept running, and when she felt she was at a safe distance, teleported from the scene.

"NO! NO NO NO! DAMNIT! FIND THEM, FIND THEM NOW! I DON'T CARE IF THIS WHOLE FOREST IS BURNED DOWN, FIND THEM BEFORE SOMEPONY ELSE DOES!" The unicorn was infuriated. He'd made the biggest mistake anyone in his business could—underestimating his opponent. He had been toying with them, showing off what he could do. He had figured that the pegasus with the golden armor was just wearing it for show—heh, 'figured', he thought. Yes, yes…that was indeed the biggest mistake he could make, and he had just made it. All their hard work could be compromised here and now. The whole reason they'd never been found out was because they left no witnesses. And now?...

* * *

><p>Half a mile from the site of the ambush, a flash of light appeared in the middle of the dense foliage, and Dreamcatcher undisguised herself and Blanc, giving her magic a rest. Now that she could see Blanc, she could also see the small pins that had been shot into his body.<p>

"Ow," Blanc stated plainly, as he began to feel his consciousness fading.

Dreamcatcher put a hoof over her mouth. "Oh dear Celestia…Blanc, I'm so sor-"

"Hey now, don't get all sappy on me," Blanc was fighting off the tempting thoughts of sleep, "your top priority now is to help the others that are still stuck in that shithole. Just shove me off into a secret ditch or something, I don't mind where as long as _they_ won't find me, which I'm sure…they're already doing right…now…" His eyes were getting droopy. The darts hadn't reached his neck, so he had several extra seconds of consciousness, but those seconds had already ticked by. "_FIND THEM_. I have no idea what that unicorn has in mind for them…but the fact that he doesn't seem to take prisoners has me worried…"

"Blanc…"

"Find…them…save…th…" His body went limp, and his head drooped onto the ground. She could still hear his breathing, but that didn't stop the surge of sadness that overtook her body. She was fighting back tears as she realized all the others have faced the same fate as Blanc—only worse. That unicorn was taking them somewhere as she was just sitting there.

'_Save them_.'

Dreamcatcher teleported into the mountains nearby, placing Blanc into a snug cavern. Then, she returned as silently as she could to the dirt road, watching as the unicorn threw the lifeless ponies onto a cart a wheeled them away. Her tears had dried on her face by now, and all that was left on that face was pure, unadulterated rage.

She was_ pissed_.


	14. Isolate

"Uhhhh…huh? Wablebshg…"

Blanc Shimmer was slowly coming to, the effects from the sleep poison darts finally fading. He slowly got to his hooves as he held his head, there was an intense throbbing, much like that of a hangover.

"Ugh, I feel like I slept on a rock…oh." Blanc looked down to see the large stone slab he had been laying on, accompanied by a puddle of drool where his mouth had laid. Looking around, he noticed that he was in a small cavern, barely twice his height when standing; a round, uneven base only a few yards across made up the floor of his room, and several rocks were stacked in front of a niche in the hole—what was most likely the way out. Blanc pushed the rocks aside, and a thin slip of light shone in, burning his currently-sensitive retinas. Groaning in pain, he gave himself a minute to adjust to the light, and glanced outside.

He was near one of the mountain peaks on the east side of the valley road. The shadow of the mountain caused by the sun's morning light was looming over the valley forest below. He suddenly remembered what had happened last night—or at least he _hoped_ only a night had passed. Anger swept over him, and then concern. What has happened to Dreamcatcher and the others, the young fillies especially? Glancing around again, Blanc saw a piece of paper that had been left next to his sleeping body. Looking at it, it read:

"Blanc Shimmer:

I have left you here while I go to search for the others. I can only hope you aren't found, as I've left you in a very obscure location covered by rocks. You can move those rocks out, by the way—it's not like you're trapped in there, so don't freak out." Blanc snorted. "I will continue to pursue the unicorn and his henchmen; hopefully I'll discover a hideout, along with whatever they're planning to do with our team. I do not know how long that sleep serum will last, or if it ever will fade at all…but when it does, and when you read this, I want you to continue down the same path I do. Look at the leaves of the trees, as I will turn a few purple on select trees every several meters or so. Follow this path, and you will most likely run into either me or the bandits. On that note, I cannot stress this last matter lightly: _tread carefully_. We do not know what to expect from those bandits, and I've never seen the magic that the unicorn leader had used before. If I were to guess, it appeared to be some form of 'anti-magic', which I can only hope is not the case. Nonetheless, I pray for your quick recovery and assistance in fighting back.

Your acquaintance:

Dreamcatcher"

"Acquaintance? Really? After ALL the years of knowing you and the friendship we've shared?" Blanc sarcastically thought aloud. Not that she would remember, but they had been best friends before. Not that she would remember, of course. But that was aside the point—right now, he had to follow that trail and catch up with her!

Blanc flew down the mountain, careful not to wipe out, as he was still a bit groggy. When he neared the base of the mountain, along with the start of the forest, he immediately noticed the purple leaves that were on one of the trees. Looking beyond them several yards out, he saw another clump of purple leaves on one of the trees, the two forming a line.

Without a second thought, Blanc followed.

* * *

><p>'I just hope he actually gets here in time…' Dreamcatcher thought to herself, turning another couple of tree leaves purple.<p>

It was still twilight, only the brightest of stars still shone in the sky. The moon had already passed the mountain range, the sun getting ready to rise in the east. She had lost sight of the cart a while ago, but she didn't need to have her eyes directly on it to know where it went; she didn't want to be so close to it anyway when she followed it into the thick brush, off the dirt path. During the beginning of her tagging-along, she had really fought to keep herself from attacking the whole lot of them. She was a Head Captain of the ERA, the _Equestrian Royal Army_, second only to the Princesses themselves, in rank at least. And not only that, but she was the Head Captain of the Unicorn Division; her title itself essentially claiming that she was not only the most _powerful_ unicorn in Equestria, but also the most _skilled_. She would have obliterated that petty group of 'elite bandits' had it not been for the unicorn that had been heading them. She had never seen the acts he performed. There never was anything in the books about magic that destroyed magic. The best she could put it as was…'anti-magic'. The property of its reaction with her magic was surprisingly similar to when matter comes into contact with antimatter, so it made enough sense. It was a concept that existed, but never in a living pony. What didn't make sense was why this unicorn had such power; Dreamcatcher had no idea what to expect from him, so she kept her ground.

She wasn't following a path of ruin from the cart against the trees and bushes to know where she was going. She had enough magical power herself to sense the presence of another ponies magic for a short time after it's used on an object. The unicorn must have been clearing a path for the cart, immediately restoring the brush when the cart passed it. Dreamcatcher noted that the properties of this 'anti-magic' was the same as that of magic…it's just that it didn't react with regular magic all too well.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard a sound in the bushes.

She immediately went invisible. Hopefully it was Blanc, but there had been several bandits scouring the area after she and him had escaped. What she had heard next she hadn't expected, though.

The voice of a young filly called out. "Hello? Is anypony here? I thought I heard something…"

Dreamcatcher looked to the sound of the voice, and saw the pony whose named she recalled as 'Scootaloo' walking to her location. Still invisible, Dreamcatcher whispered harshly to her.

"Shh! You don't want to give up your location, do you?" Dreamcatcher revealed herself, and crouched low as she walked to Scootaloo, who was mildly surprised.

"Oh thank goodness you're here! I'm so lost right now…"

"How in the world did you escape?" Dreamcatcher questioned the pegasus, not a single other thing on her mind.

"Oh! Well, I saw everypony else get hit with the sticks. I felt mine get stuck in my hair, and it didn't actually get into my skin. When everypony else fell to the ground, I just kinda flipped out and mimicked them… Like when you play dead when you see a bear, I guess." The small orange pony replied, not making eye contact with Dreamcatcher.

"That's genius! I commemorate you, Scootaloo, that's the kind of quick thinking that gets you forward in life." Dreamcatcher replied happily.

"Thanks, I guess…it doesn't change how the others are still gone…" Scootaloo was really sad.

"Don't worry," Dreamcatcher said comfortingly, "I'm on the trail right now, and the both of us are going to find and take down these sons-of-" She faltered mid-sentence.

"Sons of evil?" Scootaloo asked, trying to help with Dreamcatcher's sudden loss of words.

"Um, yes, that's exactly the word I was looking for! Onwards now, we have no time to spare for leisure!" Dreamcatcher began to walk again, now with Scootaloo at her side.

* * *

><p>Applejack couldn't bring herself to open her eyes. She was so tired, and the waking-up process was taking forever. What really brought her to was the sound of rattling chains to her left.<p>

Opening her eyes, she looked to her left to see Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Derpy each shackled up medieval-style against the stone wall. They all had apparently woken up before she did; Rarity, the one closest to Applejack, was squirming around in the chains wrapped around her wrists and ankles. It had taken Applejack this long to realize she too was hung up against the wall. Looking down, she saw Applebloom and Sweetie Belle unconscious in a small steel cage. Taking in the entire room, she could see that they were in an old-fashioned prison cell, with a rectangular floor of stone brick, the wide side being the one that she and her friends were chained upon. On the opposite wall a couple yards away was a large opening blocked by thick steel bars. The only lighting in the room was from the torches that were directly outside the cell.

"Good morning," Derpy said to Applejack sarcastically from the far end of the cell, noticing she was finally awake.

"What the hay happened?" Applejack questioned her three friends.

"Beats me," said Pinkie, the upbeat attitude surprisingly not gone from her voice. Pinkie herself seemed rather indifferent to their current predicament.

"…If these rusty old shackles grip around my soft, beautiful skin much longer, I'm going to chafe!" whined Rarity aloud, not talking to anyone in particular.

"Hello?" Applejack yelled out from the cell. "Hey! Anypony hear me? Jus' what the hay is going on here? Where are we?"

"Pipe down, you'll cause a ruckus."

A gray unicorn with black eyes and a white mane strolled into view, in front of the cell. He looked to the ponies against the wall in chains. His voice was slick and dark, and it gave Applejack the shivers. "Don't worry about the restraints; we'll have them off of you in no time. All we want is a little something in return." He grinned pleasantly towards his prisoners.

"Like hell you do," Derpy sneered at him. "Don't you dare go and attack us, chain us, and then smile at us like nothing is wrong." She glared at him with Death in her eyes.

The unicorn sighed. "It appears you all are just as bad as those other two. Pity. Anyways, please allow me to introduce myself." He bowed to them, "My name is Ricochet, and I am unicorn that founded this place."

"What, ya mean this big 'ol jail here?" Applejack lowered her head and looked up at him.

"Huh? Oh, no no no, not _this_. I suppose you wouldn't know, as you were asleep during your travel here. This is Jasmine, the underground city. Built deep under the mountain ranges with blood, sweat, and magic of course." He chuckled to himself.

"An underground city?" All the ponies were intrigued now. Ricochet smiled and continued.

"What had started as a vast, empty cavern beneath the mountains has been turned into a healthy, self-sufficient city. Everything anypony could need as far as sustenance can be found right down here. We have plenty of plants that give us food and oxygen, several natural wells, and a massive supply of ore planted inside the rock. It's a haven for ponies, and a protective wall from the outside world." He boasted to the group.

They were impressed by what he had said, but at the same time, they only cared about getting out right now. "So when can we leave 'Jasmine'?" Rarity could only hope they would be freed without question.

"Leave?" The unicorn looked surprised. "Why on earth would you want to leave? As I had just said—this place will provide a fresh new start, away from the rest of civilization-"

"We aren't looking for a 'fresh new start', okay? Just let us go and we'll forget this whole thing ever happened. We'll forget that you shot us with sleeping poison, dragged us into a secret city, and chained us up in a prison cell." Derpy bargained.

"Forget? Ha…that's simply not possible." Ricochet actually became serious, and it frightened the group. "Now that you are here, you're going to stay here. See, that is where my introduction earlier comes back into play. We only want a little something in return for your newfound freedom." The ponies looked at him intently as he paused before speaking again. "We want your permanent residence here in Jasmine."

"_Sorry_, no can do!" Pinkie said loudly. "There's no Sugar Cube Corner here. And where there's no Sugar Cube Corner, there's no superly-delicious treats!"

Ricochet looked to Pinkie unamused, "You are all going to stay here. Permanently. I cannot afford for somepony to leave and blabber about this place. If the Princesses found out about Jasmine, we'd be shut down for good."

Both Applejack and Derpy started, then paused to let the other talk. Looking to each other, Derpy motioned for Applejack to go first. "If that's the case, then why would'ya go and kidnap random ponies an' force 'em to live here? That certainly doesn't seem like a very efficient method ah doin' things."

The gray unicorn replied, "Word of Jasmine never gets out, so nopony outside knows of it. The only way to expand the population is to bring more here. Unfortunately, it is against their will, but I really have no other choice."

Derpy began to talk now. "You keep saying that you can't let anypony know about this. What is it about this city that the Princesses would condemn it for?"

"Well, we use slave labor, of course," Ricochet said without the slightest bit of irony.

"What! That's terrible!" Rarity interjected.

A sad smile crossed Ricochet's face, "Yes, that's what many say. It's not like we abuse them though! Slaves are necessary for a functioning community, and allowing it to reach its full potential." He spoke like a businessman pitching an idea for a company. The girls were at a loss of words. He was _serious_.

"So what is it you want from us again?" Applejack asked cautiously.

"All I want is for you to _live_ here. Don't try to escape, don't try to 'overthrow the system'; just begin a new life here, in Jasmine!" He smiled at the ponies again. "Everypony else here began just like you, in a cell, probably pretty angry at me, but they all have grown quite attached to this place, and I'm positive you will too! I'll send for some guards to release you soon, I'm just going to give you a little time to think all this over. Farewell!" He vanished behind their view.

"Wah…what?" Derpy was at a loss for words. Only a few hours ago, they were on their way to revive a divine alicorn from a thousand-year entrapment; now, they themselves were trapped, and were expected to stay here for the rest of their lives!

"This is simply ridiculous!" Rarity outburst, "We must find a way out—I don't care what that unicorn says! Here—I'll just use my magic and…" She had only just noticed the black rubber cone that had been fit snugly onto her horn. "What is this? My magic isn't working! What is this confounded object!"

"Must be some kinda magic-suppression-device or somethin'," Applejack replied, giving the cone a good look-over.

Rarity whimpered and hung her head low. "What's going on…this shouldn't be happening, this shouldn't be happening…"

* * *

><p>"Any news of the three escapees?" Ricochet walked into the office, asking the secretary before she had even looked up to see him.<p>

"No," she replied, "no word from them. Are you sure it's a good idea to just wait for them to come on their own?" She appeared to doubt him.

"I saw the look in their eyes, and there's no way they are going to let me get away with taking their friends." He grinned a small half-smile again, "The rest of the world just doesn't seem to understand the fundamentals of a community's success anymore. I don't think a single pony taken here had ever agreed with the idea of slave labor when I first talked to them in that cell…but now look! We are a massive, thriving community, more successful than even Equestria itself! We really should bring this plan to Mairocco—I hear they are in a huge financial bind right now. It really would be the moral thing to do." He nodded to himself in confirmation at his own idea.

"Shall I start a letter sir?" the secretary asked.

"No, Wing Reader, I just thinking aloud is all. Besides, economy isn't the reason I built this place, remember?" Ricochet replied.

"Very well sir." The pony returned to the papers on her desk. She was a light brown pegasus with green eyes and a long dark brown mane. Small spectacles were hanging on the end of her snout, just about ready to fall of her nose if he tilted her head down any further. "Honestly, sir, I still feel that we should warn as many as we can, and perhaps offer ponies to come here, rather than kidnap them."

Ricochet sighed. "I've told you before, Wing Reader. Nopony would understand; nopony would believe me, what I know. Also, there is no way we can keep Jasmine self-sustainable without slaves, which is our biggest 'issue' with the rest of the world. Eventually, though, when what's prophesized shall come true, these ponies shall thank me deeply for saving their lives."

* * *

><p>"This is it, Scootaloo." Dreamcatcher and Scootaloo were standing on the outskirts of the forest, right in front of the base of one of the west mountains. In front of them was an impression in the stone wall. You wouldn't have seen the door if you weren't looking for it. Dreamcatcher used her magic to see beyond the door, into what lie beyond.<p>

"What's in there?" Scootaloo asked in awe.

A disappointed look came on Dreamcatcher's face. "…Nothing. There's just a long tunnel leading deeper down. That must be where they were taken, though."

"So what are we gonna do now?" the petite purple-haired pegasus pondered.

Dreamcatcher looked up at the mid-morning sky in thought. "Well, while I don't know the time it will take for the poison in Blanc to subside, I would still prefer to wait for him to catch up. I have absolutely no idea of what to expect past that door, and I certainly do not want you to get into any danger. If something happened to you on my watch…I wouldn't know what to tell your parents…"

"Uh…yeah…" Scootaloo became distressed on this issue.

Noticing something was wrong, Dreamcatcher decided to probe. "What is wrong? Do you not like your parents?" Scootaloo shook her head. "Wait—no you don't, or yes you do?"

Scootaloo shuffled her hooves against the dirt floor of the forest. "…I don't really have a mom or dad, actually."

Dreamcatcher shrunk down a bit, "I'm so sorry…I didn't realize-"

"No, it's okay, really. I'm used to it anyways," Scootaloo tried to say reassuringly, but failed.

Their conversation was interrupted by the loud sound of a crow's caw nearby. Remembering where they are, Dreamcatcher returned to the more important subject. "I suggest we hide nearby and wait for Blanc to catch up. Creating a makeshift pit in the ground shouldn't be too hard. Perhaps we can do some social bonding while we wait…?"

Honestly, the last thing Dreamcatcher was was a babysitter. She didn't converse well with other ponies, much less a little girl like Scootaloo. In fact, the only time she didn't feel uncomfortable talking was when it was a formal conversation with Luna or one of her peers…or when she was talking to that blockhead of a pegasus. Otherwise, informal conversation really did her in.

"Uh, what?" Scootaloo chuckled as she gave Dreamcatcher a questioning look. "'Social bonding'? What does that even mean?"

Using her magic, Dreamcatcher lifted a heap of earth out from the ground. Reinforcing it with a few branches and placing a bush on top for concealment, the two ponies held out about fifty feet from the entrance to the tunnel.

"Dangit, Blanc…you'd better be okay…" Dreamcatcher said underneath her breath.

*Author's Note: Sorry about the long time it took to update. Apparently, coming down with sickness plus getting Christmas presents doesn't really add up to getting chapters done. Also, I intend to look over every single chapter so far and add corrections, and perhaps extra content; it took me a review from an "epicdonut2344" to realize that I was going a bit too fast with the storyline, which is something I need to correct. I these next few chapters are actually the transition from the exposition to the first actual story arc, so I guess the actual exposition may be a bit long (not to mention I haven't even mentioned The Six since the first chapter). So yeah, I've been kinda slow on the uptake in the past week or so, and I haven't even finished the third chapter of "The Magic of Animosity" -_-; but I'll get back to it soon!*


	15. The Push of a Button

"…And that is basically everything we know. Everything I know, at least."

Given the opportunity for discussion, Dreamcatcher had just told Scootaloo everything that has happened in the past three days.

"Wow! Omega sounds really cool! I sure hope we find him!" Scootaloo said enthusiastically.

Dreamcatcher sighed. "Yes, but first we have to get the group back together. Speaking of which…" she poked her head out the bush and looked around in the sky. The sun was directly overhead now, filling the mountain valley with its brilliant light. "…where the heck is Blanc? I'd hoped that his usual laziness wouldn't make him sleep longer than he should…"

"You like him, don't you Dreamcatcher?" Scootaloo said with a mischievous smile and a 'wink-wink'.

Dreamcatcher paused for a moment, then she slowly came back down into the hole and gave Scootaloo one cocked eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, come on! It's kind of obvious, and I'm not even the one that likes that sappy stuff. I mean, just look at you two! You're both always together-"

"We're both on the same mission, not to mention this is the first time you've met either of us."

"…The two of you bicker like an old married couple-"

"We both get on each other's nerves a lot, especially since our methods of getting things done are so…opposite of one another."

"…And you're blushing right now," Scootaloo pointed out.

Dreamcatcher suddenly became aware of the hot feeling in her cheeks. "Please. You can't use this one example as an entire case. I must admit I was somewhat…'touched' by his motivational speech and determination to save the rest of you, after he had been hit with the sleep darts. I won't lie—I was crying when he fell unconscious, but that doesn't mean I have a 'thing' for him."

"Fine, fine, if you're gonna be that uptight about it, I won't bother you anymore." Scootaloo smiled slyly, "…about how you _looove _him!"

The Head Captain was not amused, and squinted her eyes in resentment at Scootaloo's behavior. The pegasus cowered slightly, "Sorry…" she whispered.

Dreamcatcher softened her gaze and sighed. "How about we change the subject? Okay…um…uh…" Dreamcatcher stuttered, at a loss for another conversation. "…Uh, what do _you_ want to talk about?"

"…I don't know," Scootaloo replied.

There was an awkward silence for the next few minutes. Both ponies were trying to think of something to say, perhaps Dreamcatcher more than Scootaloo, as they both continued to wait for Blanc to arrive.

Suddenly, Scootaloo spoke up, "Y'know, your eyes are the same shade as mine are! That's kinda cool, that I have the same eyes as one of the Head Captains!"

Well that was trivial, thought Dreamcatcher. Though, instead of putting down the pegasus, she decided to just go along with it. "Yeah, I guess that is 'cool'. Small world after all… Actually, speaking of similarities, I was wondering if you'd like to hear my own story as a young filly."

Scootaloo looked uninterested in this topic, but didn't want to put down the unicorn. "Uh, sure I guess. Wait, how are we similar?"

"Well, I hope you don't mind me bringing this up again, but you have been an orphan most of your life, have you not?" Dreamcatcher knew it was a touchy subject, but she wanted to continue with her story. She frowned slightly when she was how Scootaloo cringed at the question. "You don't have to answer that if you don't want to!" she hastily added.

"No, it's fine, really! Yeah, I've been parentless for as long as I can remember. But it's fine, though! I'm doing great in school, I have many friends, and there are plenty of ponies in Ponyville that are kind to me and help me out if I need it."

Dreamcatcher looked down at the floor, recalling her old memories. "Well, you certainly had it better than I did then. You see, I was an orphan as well."

"No way! Really, you?" Scootaloo was surprised by this. Usually, the ponies with the kind, nurturing parents were the ones that had the most potential. This was the Head Captain of Equestria's unicorns, and she was an orphan, too?

"Yes," Dreamcatcher continued, "It's somewhat hard for me to remember, as I seem to have purposefully locked away most of those memories from long ago… From what I do remember though, my life was a rather sad and uneventful one…"

* * *

><p>*Canterlot, around fifteen years ago*<p>

"Excellent work, Dreamcatcher! You really put a lot of work into your essay!" The teacher handed Dreamcatcher her paper, which had a golden star of approval on the top right corner.

"That's because she has nothing better to do," a snide voice whispered in the back of the class. All the other students began to giggle and point at her. Dreamcatcher tried to look as small as possible as she walked back to her desk.

The teacher glared at the pony who had spoken. "That's two, Ranger. One more and you're out that door immediately."

"Yeah, yeah," the white pegasus huffed. He was a year older than the other students, mainly because he'd been held back for another year. This being the first grade, you could only image what the rest of his school career had in store.

Dreamcatcher was a small, soft-spoken unicorn filly. She had a dark green coat and a black mane, a color-combo that certainly stood out from most of the other students. Her light purple eyes were always looking down at the ground. What was the point of even going to school? She couldn't make any friends, much to her teacher's displeasure, and all the bullies seemed to like targeting her out specifically. Her thoughts were interrupted by the school bell ringing.

The teacher was slightly startled, "Oh! That's it for today, class! Now remember to read the next chapter for tomorrow, and be prepared to write another essay!"

The children didn't hesitate to get out of their desks and out the door to the next class. Dreamcatcher, however, simply sighed and continued to sit in her chair.

"What's wrong Dreamcatcher? Is it because of what Ranger said?" The teacher lowered her head and looked around to make sure no one else was listening, and then whispered, "I think I can probably get him expelled, all I need is just the right opportunity and-"

"That's not it, it's just…what's the point to all of this?" Dreamcatcher sighed loudly again and planted her head onto her desk.

"Now don't talk like that," her teacher scolded, "You just need to give it time."

"Give _what _time?" Dreamcatcher was becoming riled, "There's _nothing_ for me to look forward to—my life is just an empty pit laying out in front of me, nowhere for me to go!"

"Uh, excuse me?"

Dreamcatcher looked up to see a white pegasus pony standing in front of her. He looked just like the rest of those ponies that were sons of the Royal Guard pegasi, and just like Ranger.

"What do you want?" Dreamcatcher whimpered, cringing in her desk. The pegasus became confused at this sudden change of behavior.

"Huh? What's wrong, did I do something?" he said.

Wait. He was actually concerned about her? Was this some sort of prank Ranger planned or something?

The teacher looked up from her desk and saw the two talking, smiling immediately and interrupting to hopefully spark a friendship, "Dreamcatcher, this is Blanc Shimmer, a pegasus that is in my class right after yours. He's a son of one of the Royal Guards, but he's nothing like Ranger, so don't worry."

"Hiya," Blanc said, stretching out a hoof for Dreamcatcher to shake. She stuck out her own hoof, and they shook. "I'm planning on being the best pegasus ever! I've been training my wings really hard, even though I can't fly yet…" changing the subject on a whim, he returned from his own thoughts and asked Dreamcatcher, "So, Dreamer, what is _your_ goal to become?"

"Huh?" She never had any goals, or dreams, or…anything. "I don't really have a goal…"

He dropped his jaw and looked at her with wide eyes. "WHAT? You don't wanna do _anything_? That sounds like the dream of a huge lazypants." Dreamcatcher eyed him in annoyance, but he didn't seem to notice. "Well, since my dream is to be the best pegasus ever, how about your goal will be to become the best unicorn ever? That's a pretty cool dream, don't you think?"

"Uh…" Dreamcatcher was still a little unnerved from this whole situation, but she was beginning to warm up to the friendly pegasus, "Yeah…that sounds pretty, uh, 'cool'."

The teacher didn't want to separate them when their friendship was just starting to blossom, but it was a school, and school wasn't over yet. "I'm sorry Dreamcatcher, but if you don't hurry up, you'll be late to your next class." She looked around her classroom, noticing Dreamcatcher and Blanc were the only ones currently in. "Where's everypony else? The bell's about to ring…"

"Oh," Blanc began casually, "I think it's 'cause there's some fight or something going on in the hallway around the corner."

"WHAT?" the teacher rushed out the door, a second later you could hear her yelling at the group of students in the hallway.

"See you, Dreamer!" Blanc said happily, "Hopefully we'll meet again sometime soon!"

"Yeah," Dreamcatcher said, cracking a smile, "I look forward to that."

* * *

><p>*back to now*<p>

"So what ended up helping you was some other student?" Scootaloo asked.

"Not really 'helped', as much as he did _save_ me," Dreamcatcher said happily. "If it hadn't been for him, I really don't know if I would have kept the disposition to keep going forward."

"And yet you can't remember his name?" Scootaloo said, glancing up questioningly to the dark green unicorn.

Dreamcatcher looked embarrassed. "Well, no offense to him, but he didn't really stand out physically from most of the other students. The most common look of pegasi—male ones, at least—is to have a perfectly white coat. He looked so similar to the others; he even looked like the very bully that he protected me from, the one that had always been picking on me."

Scootaloo was becoming enwrapped in the fantasy of the whole story. "He protected you, too?"

"Yes, he did. After we became friends that day, we always hung out. He was the only pony my age that would actually talk to me, anyway. The first time that bully had picked on me when my friend was around, my friend really let him have it! The bully was so scared, even though the only thing my friend had done to him was give him verbal threats." Dreamcatcher smiled at the memory, "I believe he received an hour-long detention for the scene he made." Scootaloo smiled along with her.

The sun was just beginning to lower from its position in the peak of the sky. Dreamcatcher was growing impatient. She had to choose between potentially abandoning Blanc, who was their primary source of speed and brute strength, or the six other ponies that had been carried down into the cavern, Celestia-knows-what being done to them.

It was a risk, but Dreamcatcher decided she wasn't going to wait anymore. She got up out of the hole, and she shot a bright-red flare from her horn into the sky. Despite it being the middle of the day, the flare could be seen as easily as if it were the pitch-black night sky, acting as a beacon for Blanc if he may be nearby.

"What are you doing?" asked Scootaloo, "I thought the bandits were still looking for us!"

"If we're going into the cave, I have a feeling we're going to meet them anyways. We're going in now, and I sincerely hope that bringing you down into there with me will not end up being a terrible idea."

Patting the ground with her hoof, Scootaloo grinned, saying, "Even if you wanted to leave me here, there's _no way_ I'm just going to stand by while somepony goes and tries to steal my friends. Let's go!"

Dreamcatcher took one more look at the treetops before returning to the large stone entrance of the secret cavern. It was a simple, large stone slab that could be slid out of the way quite easily. Just as Dreamcatcher began to move the slab though, her ears perked up when she thought she heard a certain voice in the distance. Whirling around, and practically whipping Scootaloo in the face with her tail, she turned to see a white pegasus in golden armor flying over to them.

"Blanc!"

As the pegasus landed, out of breath and panting heavily, he glared up at Dreamcatcher, who was smiling whole-heartedly at him. Ignoring her apparent happiness, he said loudly in annoyance, "Why didn't you just shoot the freaking flare in the first place? That stupid purple leaf thing got me completely lost, and for a while I was actually going backwards!"

"It's nice to see you too," Dreamcatcher said without a drop of sarcasm. She looked over to Scootaloo, who was grinning and giving her the old 'wink-wink'. Dreamcatcher kicked up a small cloud of dust at the filly playfully, to get her to stop with the insinuations.

Still panting, Blanc asked Dreamcatcher, "So, what's the update on the kidnapping? Any news?" He finally noticed the orange pegasus that had been standing next to her, and he added, "And what is she doing here?"

Dreamcatcher gave Blanc a quick update on how she had been tracking the path of the cart to the slab in front of them, and about how Scootaloo apparently escaped the bandits.

"Wow, I'm impressed, kid. You got the real mind workings of puzzle-solver there." Blanc messed up Scootaloo's hair with his hoof. She swatted his arm away and smoothed her hair out, glaring at Blanc, who was smiling annoyingly at her.

With the fun over, Dreamcatcher began to move the stone slab again. "Are you guys ready? I really do not know what lies beyond at the end of that tunnel…"

Blanc turned his attention to the slab and smiled a cocky grin, determined to face whatever lies ahead. "That just adds to the excitement, Dreamer."

Dreamcatcher rolled her eyes and moved the slab aside with her magic. She, Blanc, and Scootaloo all glanced inside to see what was inside. The tunnel was about three or four yards wide, at first sloping at an angle, but appearing to level out several yards down. The three ponies looked at each other, and then the two older ones looked towards the younger one. The younger one noticed, and gave them an angry look.

"I'm coming along," she said.

"If you are," Blanc said, "then you're not coming on your own four hooves. It's too dangerous to go walking on your own, even if we are right by your side." He knelt down next to her, "Time to hitch a ride."

Scootaloo didn't like that they felt she wasn't able to take care of herself, but she liked the thought of riding piggy-back on one of the greatest pegasi in all of Equestria. Second only to Rainbow Dash, of course. She suddenly became sad at this thought. "Rainbow Dash…"

Dreamcatcher gave her a worried smile. "I'm sure Princess Luna is getting her and the others back to Equestria right now, if she hasn't already." She smiled larger, "Right now, Scootaloo, our priority is a rescue mission of our own."

Scootaloo looked straight ahead and removed her pained expression, replacing it with a look of resolve. "You're right! Now let's do this!"

On this, the three rushed into the stone tunnel, lit only with as few torches as needed to be able to barely see the floor. They had no idea what to expect, but that didn't stop them. The rescue mission for Omega had drastically changed, in one day, to a rescue mission for their own teammates. And if they wanted to succeed there, they were going to have to succeed here.

Which, unbeknownst to them at the time, meant bringing a secret underground city to its knees.


	16. Enter Jasmine

"Where the heck does this thing lead to? We've been at it for a few minutes now…"

The small damp corridor of the tunnel was beginning to unnerve the group. Scootaloo was clinging as hard as she could to the golden armor on Blanc's back, the only source of light now being the small glow from Dreamcatcher's horn. The two larger ponies could barely stand side-by-side in the tunnel, which was a circular passageway that wound down and around multiple times. Whatever was at the bottom of this thing, they thought, it couldn't be good.

Eventually, they ended up going through a slightly larger and much straighter tunnel. At the far end, they could see a very faint light coming from the exit. They continued on by walking, though, because they didn't want to rush into whatever was ahead head-first.

"Oh great, it's a dead-end!" Blanc complained, after seeing the corner of the tunnel was blocked with reinforced steel bars, set in the stone vertically.

"Hold on a second," Dreamcatcher said, wanting to get a closer look first, "…Ah! This is an entrance into somewhere, see these squares?" she pointed to nine squares carved into the wall adjacent to the bars, "I will bet you anything this is a keypad."

"Huh? A keypad?" Scootaloo asked. "Do you mean that it's one of those things with the buttons and you gotta get the right code with them?"

"Precisely," Dreamcatcher replied, "We just have to get the right combination to open this gate!"

Blanc looked to her with disbelief. "Yeah…uh, you realize not only are there nine buttons, but we don't even know how many symbols long the sequence is? It could be only four, or it could be ten, or maybe twenty…we don't know! The things aren't even labeled!"

Dreamcatcher tried to see through the bars into the other side. Beyond the gate, the tunnel took a complete ninety degree turn to the left. She couldn't see what was at the end of the turn, but at least that tunnel was lit with torches. "We may as well give it a shot," she said turning back to him.

"Maybe there is a clue or something around here?" Scootaloo said hopefully.

"Doubt it—if you're going to go through this much trouble to dig a tunnel this deep down, you're gonna protect it as best as you can," Blanc rebutted. "Wait, you're a unicorn, Dreamer. Why don't you just use your magic to bend the bars or something?"

Dreamcatcher rolled her eyes. "You really think I hadn't considered that myself? The bars are coated with some strange black entity—you can't see it, but I can, and it's preventing my magic from being used on it."

"Okay, fine—let's just use the frickin' keypad," Blanc walked up to the nine squares in the wall. "Man, this thing looks completely ancient; just nine buttons on the wall—it doesn't look remotely like the electronic ones of today. What's the most common number of symbols used in a password for something like this?"

Dreamcatcher shrugged. "Pfft, don't ask me, I wouldn't know the first thing about lock-picking."

"Well, this isn't exactly lock-picking," Blanc said eyeing the keypad closely, "it's more like safe-cracking. I've worked in a few cases myself where thieves had used certain methods to solve a keypad or figure out a tumbler." Blanc rubbed his chin in thought, "Iron told me about this one case in particular that he was on where the robber had cracked a really old-style keypad that's description sounded similar to this one; it had no indication as to how many keys you needed to press, and it actually wasn't electric, either." Blanc rubbed his temples to try and remember, "The thief had tested out each button separately—the buttons were spring-operated, by the way—and he felt for the amount of resistance in each spring. The ones that were weaker were pressed more often. He figured out that three buttons needed to be pressed once, and another button pressed twice, just by the resistance the springs gave!" Blanc held a hoof up to the first button, "If luck is on our side, these will be spring-operated too…"

He pushed the first square, and it slid into the stone wall. Before completely pushing it in, Blanc withdrew his hoof. The button sprung back with him as he did. "Yes!"

"So now what?" asked Scootaloo, "Can you tell which were pressed how much with the…re-cist-ants now?"

Blanc tested out a couple more buttons' springs. "Uh, actually, I'm not sure if my sense of touch is sensitive enough. You wanna give it a go, Dreamer?"

Dreamcatcher looked unsure of herself, but walked up to continue where Blanc had left off. "Honestly, I doubt it, but I may as well try."

She gave the buttons a few presses with her hoof and frowned. She couldn't feel any difference between any of them! Did that mean that each button was pressed the same amount of times, or that she just wasn't sensitive enough? Dammit! Were they going to have to give up now? They couldn't just abandon those poor ponies! Wait…

"Did Iron Crusher specify how the thief had felt the pressure differences?" Dreamcatcher asked.

"Uh, no," Blanc said flatly. "I kinda assumed he used his hoof…"

"But that's not a good idea when you're using sense of touch," Dreamcatcher lectured, "For example-" Blanc sighed and rolled his eyes, "-ever noticed when you touch a hot bowl or glass with your hoof, decide it isn't too hot, and then end up scolding your mouth when you try to eat or drink from it?"

"Yeah."

"See my point?"

"N-…wait, wait! I do, I actually get what you're saying for once!" Blanc looked very pleased with himself. "The pony probably used a more sensitive part of his body, like his lips or snout or something like that!"

"Exactly, so I'm going to do just that." Dreamcatcher faced the nine squares again, accepting their challenge.

She stuck out her tongue, and pressed the first button with it.

"EW! What the heck, woman!" Blanc was horrified at this act of insanitariness. He certainly wasn't a clean-freak, but licking a number pad? Think about the countless hooves that had walked in the dirt and then touched that thing!

"The tongue is even more sensitive, Blanc," Dreamcatcher replied in annoyance. "Unlike you, I'm willing to risk my pride to save somepony else."

"Excuse me?" Blanc's mood changed to one of an angry annoyance. "Perhaps you don't remember who I am, or what I've done in my life. I've risked much more on the front lines and on the crime scene than you ever have, book worm!"

Dreamcatcher was trying to ignore Blanc as she continued to tongue each button, but her attention was taken back to him when she heard the clang of a hoof smacking against a metal helmet.

"Don't talk to each other like that! You two are supposed to be friends!" Scootaloo had just hit one of the leading commanders of the Equestrian military, not that she realized it, or cared. Dreamcatcher looked contentedly at the orange pegasus; she knew that Scootaloo didn't want them to fight because she thought that they liked each other, not that Scootaloo made any hint to thinking such, though Dreamcatcher wasn't fooled.

After another minute of pressing and re-pressing, Dreamcatcher stopped and thought for another minute, making motions in the air, drawing on an invisible chalkboard with her hoof to make out the calculations. Finally, she turned to the two pegasi next to her and announced her findings. "Only three buttons were significantly weaker than the rest, but the fact that all three have about the same give means that they are each pressed the same amount of times. Of course, we have no clue as to whether each one is pressed once, twice or so on. All I can tell is that they are all pressed the same amount of times."

"Are any of those three even slightly weaker than the other two?" Blanc asked.

"Actually, yes," Dreamcatcher said, slightly confused at the question, "The three buttons are—if you were to give the standard one-through-nine listing on a three-by-three square—button number two, five, and nine. Number nine gave way just a tad bit more than the other two though, I think."

"Then let's start out with number nine. Now what combos can there be with three buttons, each pressed once?" Blanc asked the unicorn.

Without even hesitating, Dreamcatcher answered, "Six, but since you insist that the combination is started with number nine, than we only have two combos to choose from."

"Oh yeah, I knew that actually," replied Blanc. He took his attention to the keypad, and pressed his first guess, cringing when he felt the warm wetness on the buttons. "Nine…five…two."

Nothing happened.

"Oh boy, I can see where this is going," Blanc complained. "Well, let's give it another shot. Nine…two…five."

*_CLICK_*

The three ponies jumped back in surprise when they heard a clunk, and the metal bars began to lower into the floor, granting them access further on.

"Holy crap, that actually _worked_!" Blanc cried in amazement.

"We don't have time to marvel at ourselves," Dreamcatcher chimed in, "we've already lost precious time waiting for you earlier and solving this stupid puzzle now. Let's continue on!" She suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. "And Blanc, lose the armor."

"What? No way!"

"It wasn't a question. Listen to the sound coming ahead."

Blanc held an ear up to the distant exit of the cave, a hole that appeared at the end of an unknown opening. He could hear the many voices, the sounds of crowds and passersby. "Are there…ponies living down here?" he asked, confused.

"It's a possibility," Dreamcatcher stated, "and we don't want to stick out. I know the armor could come in useful for defense, but I don't think that will be an issue at the moment. Hopefully, at least."

"Y'know, that's not a very comforting thing to say…" Blanc said as he took off his golden Equestrian armor, revealing on his flank a picture of a round, black, metallic shield.

"Hmm, never seen your cutie mark before," Dreamcatcher mused, catching a glimpse of it. "Very interesting. Skill in defense or something?"

"You've seen it before, Dreamer," Blanc complained.

"No, I haven-"

"Now's not the time for this!" Scootaloo interrupted, catching the other two by surprise. They'd actually forgotten the filly was there, right on Blanc's back. "Let's hurry up and save the others!"

"Oh yeah," Blanc said, remembering the mission as they continued forward again.

* * *

><p>"Whudya mean we're 'sposed to live here now?" Applebloom and Sweetie Belle had only recently woken up, the sleep serum having had a larger effect on their smaller bodies. Walking out the cell they had just been released from, the two fillies couldn't believe what their older sisters were telling them.<p>

"I'm afraid it's the truth…" Derpy said sadly. "I'm not sure what to do anymore. It appears even my unconscious has given up—I haven't had an involuntary movement since I got shot in the neck by these dolts. I actually kind of miss it; it feels like a part of me has just died."

"Are you sure we can't escape?" Sweetie Belle asked the older ponies.

"SHH!" they all hushed her to prevent her from speaking about that any more.

Applejack spoke in a very soft whisper, "If we're gonna talk about escapin' we're gonna do it behind closed doors, not here in a prison!" Sweetie Belle lowered her head in regret.

Pinkie asked the question that was in the back of everyone's mind. "So then where _are_ we supposed to live? Will our house even have an oven? I can't live here if I'm not allowed to bake!"

"I'm glad you asked, Pinkie Pie."

The entire group stopped dead in their tracks and looked forward to see a gray unicorn standing in the entranceway of the prison's doors. His calm smile was met with the coldest glares ever given by such normally-happy ponies.

"Since you've gone through all the trouble of being kidnapped and imprisoned, I'm going to give you all the generous welcoming gift of your very own household! It's already been filled with furniture, but feel free to change, add, or remove whatever you want." Ricochet walked up to Sweetie Belle and eyed her with his head raised, the disposition around him changing from happy to menacing in a heartbeat, "And if I catch any wind of talking to escape, I will not hesitate to remove you as citizens, and _add_ you as slaves. We're beginning to run low on them anyways, and you all would've become ones yourselves had I not had a change of heart."

As he walked away, the cowering ponies noticed that he didn't have a cutie mark—at least, not anymore. Where a cutie mark should have been, instead were deep scars taking over most of his flank on both sides of his body. Apparently not knowing when to quit talking, Sweetie Belle spoke up.

"What happened to your cutie mark?"

The group froze even more as Ricochet stopped walking. He turned around slowly to meet eyes with Sweetie Belle. "You mean what's with my scars?" he asked in a plain voice, or at least as plain as that dark, intimidating voice could be. Sweetie Belle slowly nodded her head, fearful of what may happen next. Ricochet didn't move from his spot, but just kept looking at the small white unicorn; he turned away as he said, "I didn't like my future being decided for me." He continued walking out the door without another word. The group all stood as a collective statue, none of them daring to continue onward.

Rarity was stuttering for words. "Does that mean…did he…?"

"I think he actually…_carved out his cutie mark_," Derpy said in astonishment.

"It's not like a cutie mark actually _decides_ your future," Pinkie added in confusion. "Besides, shouldn't his special talent become his cutie mark? Why would anypony want to remove that?"

"Honestly Pinkie, I don't think that unicorn is in his right mind," Applejack whispered quietly, just above inaudible; for all they knew, he was right outside, still listening in on them.

"Wait, we never did find out where our house is, did we?" Applebloom asked.

"Here," the prison guard walked up to them and handed Derpy a key and a map. "This key here unlocks your new house. We've already circled its location on this map of Jasmine." He walked away without waiting for a response. "Have a nice stay," he replied without looking back.

Everyone looked at each other. No one had any idea what was going on, and they certainly didn't want to abide by these kidnappers' instructions, but there really wasn't any other strategy at the moment.

Derpy held up the key and map. "We may as well go check it out."

They continued to walk out the prison, going at a snail's pace by the time they reached the front doors that had been only a few yards away. Ricochet had really left an impression on them.

They stepped out into the light, a light which really wasn't much brighter, if not dimmer, than the torch-lined hallways in the prison. The group paused a moment to marvel at the view of where they were. They were in a massive cavern, and were currently standing alongside what appeared to be a wall of the city, which really was just a wall off the cave. The prison they had just exited was embedded in the wall itself; simply carved out of the stone, rather than cutting up stone and stacking it into buildings. It seemed like an efficient way of building down here.

Looking opposite the wall, about fifty yards out was a drop-off, leading into a deep, mist-filled hole. Though the entire city was filled with mist, there was a very large and compacted quantity of mist consistently rising out from the hole. Looking above, one couldn't even see the ceiling—it was completely coated in shadow, save for one or two stalactites that could be faintly seen peeking out of the black shroud. There must have been thousands of torches lining the walls of the city, every one out of a hundred unlit. The large cliff following the wall curved inwards, appearing to form a tight circle, but a circle so large the other side couldn't be seen, only darkness and a misty vapor. In the center of the deep, mist-filled pit was a black tower that looked like it had been forged from some kind of metal. The tower peaked about a hundred feet above, relative to the ground the ponies stood upon, and at the top of the tower was a large mass of light. The mass must have been at least one hundred feet across, but it was so dim that one could look straight at it and not have it burn the eyes as much as looking at the sun did. A couple dozen ponies were seen walking the street, not paying any attention to the vast and gloomy environment around them. Along with the buildings carved within the face of the wall, which could be identified from the windows in the stone, there were also actual constructed buildings in the center of the large plateau riding the inside of the massive cavern. There were hundreds of trees, too, each one planted in a single, small pit of dirt dug out from the rock floor; at least one tree for every yard along the sides of the platform and next to the buildings in the center. It really was a sophisticated-looking place, and it took away the anxiety of being trapped here forever—for about fifteen seconds, at least. The city of Jasmine certainly had a strange feel; the darkness and mist gave it an evil aura, but the actual architecture put into it was mesmerizing, especially the large mass of light, which was assumingly a replacement for an actual sun.

Rarity took a glance at the map Derpy was holding. "So this city is actually divided into three parts?" she said, after seeing the three different segments depicted on the paper.

Now Applejack took a look at it. "It appears that there are two smaller circles—two smaller cliff sides—underneath the one we're standin' on. Our house is right here though." She pointed at the first and largest circle, the segment they were currently standing on. The house was on the opposite side of the city, a complete 180° of walking necessary to get there.

"We have to walk all the way _there_?" Rarity whined.

Derpy smiled at the unicorn. "Well, YOU have to walk, I'M going to go fly over there and get a quick look-see first." She took off and made a beeline for the other side, leaving the map with Rarity, but taking the key. As she entered the white mist, though, she started to feel a little strange. The strange feeling was mainly in her wings, actually.

A passer-by pegasus happened to notice her flight. "Oh, my! What does she think she's doing?" the mare exclaimed.

"What's wrong?" Applejack questioned, "Is she not supposed to go to that tower or somethin'?"

"Not exactly," the pony replied, "but you can't fly into that mist! It _debilitates magic_, including that of pegasi—you're wings will _fail_ in a few seconds!"

"_WHAT?_" Derpy had only gotten earshot of this, but she made a complete 180 back to her friends, and she felt the weird feeling in her wings beginning to recede.

"Phew, you must be new here, huh?" the pegasus said with a sigh of relief. She was pink—similar to Pinkie, but of a much richer hue—and she had a medium-long, solid-red mane. Her blue eyes surveyed the group of six, sizing them up. She then gave Derpy a look of doubt, "You weren't trying to escape or something, were you?"

"_No_," she stressed defiantly, "I was just heading over to our…our new home, apparently."

The pegasus perked up. "Oh! Then you are new here! I've never met newcomers, they're so hard to find nowadays. Here, let me escort you guys over to where your house is! By the way, my name's Saffron, pleased to make your acquaintance!"

The group looked unsure of themselves; none of these other ponies' reactions make sense. How in Equestria could all of these citizens: _enjoy_ living here, _not_ try to escape, and _overlook the whole slavery _thing? If this 'Saffron' was going to come along for the ride, she's better be prepared to stop at every red light, because the questions from the Ponyville-natives were ready to fly out like fireworks.

*Author's boring thoughts you don't care about: Honestly, I'm surprised at how popular this story is, even now. I must admit that I started writing it too quickly (and perhaps it wasn't the best idea to start out the 'big story' when you first start up writing, but I believe I've perfected my game by now-at least for the "Magic of Animosity", that it [you should read that story, too!]), and the first twenty chapters to me feel a bit too...incomplete. I'm certainly happy that people enjoy it, though!*


	17. Shadow in the Mist

"So where are all of you from?" Saffron asked whole-heartedly.

"Whoa, whoa, _whoa_," interrupted Derpy, "before you start asking us a bunch of trivial questions, how about we ask you a few of our own, _important_, questions?"

"Uh, sure I guess," Saffron stuttered.

Derpy glanced back at the rest of the group who were now following the neon-pink pegasus. They gave Derpy the same, unanimous non-verbal look to ask the same question that they all wanted to know. Derpy asked Saffron, "Why do you like it down here? Like, why are NONE of you trying to get the heck out?"

"What, in Jasmine? I don't know, you just kinda get used to it I guess," the mare replied.

"That seems a tad bit hard ta believe." Applejack, like the rest of the group, wasn't convinced.

"But it's the truth!" Saffron insisted, "I've been down here for only a year and a half, and it already feels like home! Anyways, what are your names-"

"Also, what's up with that mist you were talking about earlier?" Derpy had felt a strange presence when she had entered the mist. According to this pegasus in front of her, the magic in her wings that had been keeping her afloat had about to fail within seconds; she probably would've fallen to her death into that pit!

"Well…the mist is more of a safety precaution, I suppose." Saffron seemed unsure herself about how to explain it.

Rarity gave the pony a questionable look. "A 'safety precaution'? Pray tell, what would you need magic-draining mist to protect?"

"Well, the tower, mainly." Saffron pointed to the large, black, metal pylon jutting out of the massive pit in the cave, surrounded by the comparably small fifty-yard cliff surrounding the pit. "Not only is it our main source of light, but it's also where the city's leaders reside. It needs to be protected by anypony that may feel the need to 'take action against the system', as it were." She looked back at the group and gave them an all-knowing glance. "No offense, but mainly from newcomers like you guys; they are the only ones who are compelled to fight back."

Applebloom became concerned over her last statement. "Fight back what?"

"Oh, it's not like anything is attacking us or anything," Saffron assured, "I simply said it in a way that rebels probably think. They look at Ricochet as the 'big bad' that they must destroy."

"Wait, you know that unicorn too?" Pinkie asked. "He was so scary! When he talked, I felt like he was sucking out my happy-dappy spirit right outta me!"

"Well of course I know Ricochet, every resident of Jasmine does!" Saffron said matter-of-factly. He met you down at the prison, didn't he?" she was met with a nod from each of the ponies, "Exactly! He meets personally with everypony he brings down here; it's common courtesy, anyways!"

Derpy snorted at the irony in Saffron's statement.

Saffron overheard her. "Hey—it's not like he's a bad guy or anything! He just gets a bad rap!"

"Because of his creepy voice?"

"Because of his creepy scar?"

"Because of that creepy aura about him?"

Saffron glared at the group following her. "He gets a bad rap—that's all."

"Hey, I think that's the house over there," Rarity said, pointing at a house in the near distance. She glanced back at the map in front of her, and looked up again to the house. "Yes, that is it!" The glee in her voice began to drown out. "…It certainly looks plain."

Their house was one of the buildings embedded in the side of the cavern. If it wasn't for the windows carved out of the stone, you wouldn't have even known it was there. It appeared to be a two-story house, but how deep into the cave it went was a mystery.

"Here in Jasmine, we don't live for the visual appeals," Saffron replied.

Rarity looked horror-stricken. "Not at all? You give absolutely NO effort towards making things look beautiful? How _could_ you! I suppose I should have guessed—this entire place has a drab, dead, repellent feel!"

Saffron pouted at the ponies. "What's _with_ you all? None of you are opening up the slightest."

Derpy glared at her again, "Maybe that's because…oh, I dunno…we were KIDNAPPED and FORCED to live here for the REST OF OUR LIVES! We're on a very important mission, and this is a huge setback! For Celestia's sake, we won't tell anypony about this frickin' place, if you would just let us go!"

Saffron sighed sadly. "Here, let's go inside, I'll tell you a few more things you should know before you begin to live here."

Reluctantly, the group followed her into the carved-out house. On the inside, it was completely dark, the only light coming out of the windows, being slightly covered by the sad excuse for curtains that were white bed sheets hanging over the windows. They couldn't see all the way to the end of the room, but the length from the left wall to the right one was about twenty feet across. A stone staircase was barely visible in the damp light, half-concealed a few yards away to the right in the darkness of the room.

"This…is the saddest excuse for a house I've ever seen," Applejack said dryly.

"Aww, c'mon, Applejack! It just needs a little bit of Pinkie Pie's trademark PLC!"

"Trademark what?" questioned Saffron, taking the pink pony seriously.

"Pinkie-Loving Care!™" replied Pinkie as she charged into the darkness, a crash of china being heard a moment later.

"Uh, here, I'll light up the torches," Saffron stuttered. She grabbed one of the hundreds of torches lining the wall outside the building and brought it into the house. One by one, she touched it with the six torches along the inside walls of the house, illuminating the entire place in a warm, yellow glow. The long room extended outward about sixty feet, longer even than the cliffside lining the cave.

"A nice change of lighting from the static white we've had to look at this entire time," Rarity half-commented, half-complained.

"So are we s'posed to re-light these torches every time we want some light? That seems a little impractical…" Applejack was asking about the future they'd have to spend here, but she certainly had no plans of staying. She just wanted to make this pegasus think that they were getting used to the city, and weren't planning a revolt.

"No, we use these special stones charmed with the same magic that formed our artificial sun outside." Saffron pointed out the doorway to the pale white sphere resting atop the black pillar. "Of course, they are in low supply and high demand, so we're not going to put them in an unoccupied house! Constant light—they are all within somepony's house, that's why you don't even see a single one along the walls of Jasmine!"

They all got settled in their brand-new abode; a chair, couch, and some throw-pillows were shoved together around a coffee table to form a circle where they could further discuss this enigmatic city with this citizen.

A thought suddenly hit Derpy. "Hey, I don't think we've asked you this one yet: why on earth do you guys allow slavery? Heck, that's the whole reason that Rikoshay pony won't let us back out, and why he has to kidnap new citizens—to keep the secret from reaching the Princesses!"

Saffron became very stern, "It's 'Ricochet', and those slaves are an extremely important part of our economy. It's why we are so successful as a city, the free labor is essential!"

"But at the cost of removing somepony's rights as a living being?" Rarity asked.

The pink pegasus squinted her eyes at the group. "Look—you don't seem to understand yet, so I'm not going to argue this issue with you any further. Besides, it's Ricochet that makes the rules, not me. But I digress; I must stress that you don't do anything to try and… 'overthrow' our leader. He has only the best intentions in mind, and the rules and laws of Equestria were interfering with that. That's why he had to make a country of his own, the size of a city, but you get my point."

"So then what about-"

"Just let me finish, alright?" Saffron began again; trying to think of everything she could about the city to warn this seemingly-rash group of ponies. Her voice went down to a soft whisper and she knelt in closer into the circle. "The mist, it's some kind of anti-magic that fills up the entire city. Ricochet is special in this one way: he's a unicorn that controls not magic, but anti-magic. Nopony knows why, but he does, and he controls the mist. Even here, pretty much as far from the tower as you can get, the mist still exists, and it still is giving off a very weak—but present—force against your own magic. The closer you get to the tower, the weaker you become. Also, there are rumors that he himself can possess the mist, and what I mean by that is anything that is said or done can be seen, heard, smelled, tasted, or felt by him through use of the mist. He may even be listening to me right now, but I'm only warning you not to do anything rash. I'll stress again—_do not try to overthrow him_; he is extremely powerful, and I have witnessed a few attempts by ponies like you that wanted out. They didn't stand a chance against him."

Everyone else shivered at this statement. They wanted to know what had happened, but at the same time, didn't want to know. Saffron seemed to be done with what she had to say. Sweetie Belle spoke up for the first time in a while, "So do you not want to be here either?"

"No, I actually like it here. Like I said, it just takes some getting used to." She smiled whole-heartedly to them again, her previously firm disposition gone. "I doubt I'll see any of you again for a while, so I really hope you get all settled in. Bye-bye!"

And with that, she exited the door, still worrying about any scheme they may be hatching.

Every pony was standing very still in the room after Saffron had left. They all were thinking the same thing, "Now what do we do to escape?", but none of them wanted to speak after hearing Saffron's warning:

'Anything that is said or done can be seen, heard, smelled, tasted, or felt by him.'

If they were going to plot an escape, how do they do it? Was Saffron even telling the truth about this mist, or was she perhaps just trying to prevent them from creating an escape plan?

They had to treat the situation as if Ricochet himself was in the room, watching them, listening to them. They had to not only create a form of communicating to discuss their escape plan, but they had to do it in a way that didn't raise suspicion. If he could watch others, he probably had his eye trained on them right now, them being the newcomers and all.

A good minute went by in complete silence. Glances were constantly being exchanged, but that was the only interaction anyone had.

Applejack was becoming irritated at everyone's behavior. "Oh for Pete's sake—if non' of y'all are gonna say it, I will! We need ta make an escape plan!"

Her younger sister protested immediately. "No, Applejack! Don't say that out loud, or else we'll, we'll…well, I dunno what'll happen, but it sure's heck it ain't gonna be good!"

By this time, Applejack was suspicious of what that pegasus had said. "I for one find it a bit hard to believe those outrageous claims made by that Saffron mare. How do we know if she's tellin' the truth? My guess is that she just said that to scare us into submission, but it ain't gonna work on me!"

All the other ponies in the room weren't sharing Applejack's thoughts. Derpy replied, "But what we have to consider is what if she _was_ telling the truth? We're newcomers, and we certainly weren't very friendly to Rickleship, or whatever his name was. If I were him and could watch this city through that mist, I would definitely be watching us right now."

Pinkie spoke up, "Actually, girls, I don't think we're being watched or anything right now."

"Huh?" questioned everyone.

Pinkie started again, "Well, it's just that I'd think my Pinkie Sense would have detected anypony watching us. I haven't gotten any kind of 'eye-twitch-spine-shiver-ear-flop-tail-whip' during our time here."

Applejack had had trouble keeping track of what Pinkie had just said. "What?"

Pinkie explained, "My Pinkie Sense can predict tons of things; it can even notify me if I'm being watched _from the shadows_!" She gave a small cinematic act of an evil villain as she said emphasized the end of her sentence. Rarity smiled slightly at Pinkie; they were stranded deep in an underground cave, and yet Pinkie was still able to not take things seriously.

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were uninformed on the whole workings of the 'Pinkie Sense', and Sweetie Belle asked, "So your Pinkie Sense can give you 'that feeling that you're being watched', except you know that you're actually being watched? That's awesome!"

"Screw awesome," said Derpy, "we can use this to our advantage! Now, we'll know when to 'act normal' for Riposhade! Since Pinkie hasn't had any twitches yet, I think we can assume that we're not being watched right now?" Everyone else nodded in agreement. "In that case, there will be no suspicion on us as long as we just go with the flow—not too much, though. I'd like to be out of this big hole by tomorrow."

"Wait, what time is it?" Pinkie asked.

Rarity hadn't the slightest clue. "Uh, I actually don't know…oh my, how long were we out for?"

"I doubt we were out for more than twenty-four hours," said Derpy. "There wouldn't be a need for the victim to be asleep for more than that."

Applejack changed the subject back. "Well, anyway, if we're going to blend in, we should probably start and go exploring this city. That would also give as a good look at any of this place's weak points-"

Suddenly, Pinkie Pie's eye began to twitch, her spine shivered, her ears flopped back and forth against her head, and her tail made a quick loop-de-loop. Everyone went dead silent.

They knew they were being watched now. Not that the watcher knew that they knew. They couldn't act suspicious, and everyone knew that they had to make sure their stalker thought that they were intent on staying here.

"Are you a'right, Pinkie?" Applejack asked, concerned that her friend's body had just went haywire.

"It's okay," Pinkie said, knowing to keep up the act, "sometimes I just get spaz-attacks, it happens on and off!"

Applejack gave Pinkie a doubtful look. "You sure you're gonna be fine?"

"Yeppity-yeppers!" Pinkie replied happily.

Rarity began to speak, "Well, in that case, perhaps we should go look around the city? I mean, we may as well get used to it…"

"Alright then, everypony, let's go!" Derpy said half-enthusiastically. If they went full-fledged happiness about having to stay here the rest of their lives, their watcher may get suspicious; they pretended that they weren't happy, but accepting of their fate. The group of six walked out of their new stone house and into the vast, mist-covered streets of Jasmine, a dark entity following them in the shadows.

* * *

><p>*Author's Rambles: This isn't at all necessary to read, only if you want to learn random stuff about me and this story. Anyways, an interesting thing I'd like to note is that I had never actually intended to have the entire "City of Jasmine" story arc, but instead have one or two chapters MAX on the "elite bandits". My main problem (since I was improving storyline at the time for some stupid reason) was deciding what the heck thieves would want with the actual <em>ponies<em>, and not just their possessions. Originally, there was to be a small camp within the forest, and the thieves kidnapped ponies and "harvested" their organs to sell on the black market. The idea was compelling enough, but then I realized that it was WAY too grimdark for this story, especially considering the CMC were also kidnapped. So then suddenly, underground city. It actually bodes well in tying in some history into the grand scheme of the plot, which I'll FINALLY get to once this arc is over. Just wait and see! ;) *


	18. Serf

"Blanc! Get over, dang it!" Dreamcatcher whispered loudly from inside a bush.

"Hey!" Blanc loudly whispered back, "How about YOU try lugging around this little pegasus for four hours?"

"SHH!" Scootaloo hushed loudly, "Don't talk so much! You'll give away our location!"

Passersby were looking between the two shrubs on either side of the pathway, but the Jasmine residents didn't care enough to take a look at the weirdoes that were talking between each other inside. Blanc waited for a pause in the movement, and took his chance once he saw no one coming. He bolted to the other bush, right into Dreamcatcher.

"OW," Dreamcatcher said in anger to the white pegasus.

"Sorry," Blanc replied. "So, uh, what's our next move?" He took a stealth position, or at least what he considered to be one, keeping his head low on the ground and sticking his behind up in the air. "I mean—we came here to save the other girls, right? Instead, we end up finding an underground city! This kinda…complicates things, doesn't it?"

"Personally, I'm fascinated by all of this," Dreamcatcher replied. "How anyone could possibly create a self-sustainable city several _thousand_ feet underground is beyond me—and that orb of light on that tower," she pointed a hoof towards the makeshift sun in the center of the city, "how was that created? How is it able to provide enough energy to—what I assume to be, at least—have plants and crops grow? Before we leave, I want to learn as much about this place as possible."

"So…" Blanc began, "when that one unicorn said they were 'elite bandits', did they mean that they steal…ponies? For this place, this city?"

"I doubt it," said Dreamcatcher, "You wouldn't think the kidnappees would agree very well with the kidnappers. Perhaps…eh…feh, I don't know what to think, let's just move on."

"To where, exactly?" Blanc replied in protest. "We have _no idea_ what we're doing anymore."

"How about we go to that tower?" Scootaloo pointed to the black metal pillar Dreamcatcher had mentioned earlier.

"That's the LAST place I'd wanna go right now," argued Blanc. "If that unicorn is to be anywhere, he's probably in that ominous tower, and I don't know about you, but I don't want to meet up with him again anytime soon."

"Actually, let's go there," Dreamcatcher said.

"What? _Why!_" exclaimed Blanc.

"If we're going to find answers, we're going to find them there. Let's head back to the pipes, I'm sure we'll find one that leads down to the bottom of this pit." Dreamcatcher crept back to the bush Blanc had just entered from. With a groan, Blanc followed the green unicorn back.

They had found no actual entrance or exit from the city, only a series of tubes and pipes, most connected to the sewage system and had appeared to make up the bowels of the city. Even the long tunnel they had entered from only led to a maze of twisting hallways and rivers of ghastly sludge with a smell that would easily induce nausea. By pure luck the group had eventually found a grate that opened up to reveal a small alleyway between two non-imbedded buildings. It was obvious that entrances and exits were never designed to be discovered, not that the residents of this peculiar city seemed to care the slightest.

Eventually ending up back to where they started, Blanc and Dreamcatcher took a look around a rather large room beneath the top of the city; there were a dozen different pathways they could take, and each one had a river of unmentionable stuffs flowing down. Blanc specifically was having trouble holding in his lunch.

"Can we please figure out where to go, and quick?" he complained.

"Hmm," Dreamcatcher pondered, ignoring the Head Captain; "where to go, if we want to go down to the tower's base…?" she said to herself.

"How about we follow the river?" Scootaloo suggested, pointing out the sewage flow. The two older ponies hadn't even noticed it, mainly because they had tried to keep their eyes off of the crap canal; all the streams met together into a single cesspool in the center of the stone room, and only one of the streams flowed away from the pool, rather than towards it.

"It's as good a suggestion as any," Dreamcatcher shrugged, "let's get to it, then."

As they travelled down the hallway, they eventually met up with a staircase spiraling downwards, along with the pipeline of waste. By the time they reached the bottom of the stairs, their noses had already gotten used to the odor. Looking around, the passageways appeared to have more order to them; it looked as if these halls were actually used on a regular basis, unlike the secret ways hidden underground above. Dreamcatcher and Blanc, with Scootaloo in tow, took extra precaution so as to not get caught, in case someone was to unexpectedly pop in. They came across another grate, and Dreamcatcher carefully removed it and peered outside. She couldn't see any more than twenty feet ahead of her—the mist was very thick deeper in the pit. There seemed to be another whole circular plateau, a smaller one hidden deep underneath the mist, and sharing its outer wall with the drop-off from high up above. There were multiple buildings and shacks dotted across the area, as well as tools and large equipment. This section of the city looked like an industrial area, as opposed to the residential look of the larger, higher section above them. A few ponies could be seen walking around the area, but not many—at least, from what Dreamcatcher could tell from her limited field of vision. She took a second look in the sewage tunnels, and noticed that there was an actual door on the far end of the room, leading out into the misty unknown they were currently looking at.

"Let's continue forwards," Dreamcatcher said finally. "I doubt we'll get caught, seeing as how its, well, so hard to see; keep on your guard, though, we have no idea what to expect from these ponies, or that 'unicorn'."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Blanc questioned the unicorn.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"The way you said 'unicorn'; you got some idea that he's not really a unicorn?"

"Well…" Dreamcatcher's voice waned off. "How about we save that for later, when we aren't doing an important stealth mission?"

"Eh, suit yourself." Blanc, with Scootaloo still riding his back, followed Dreamcatcher to and out the door. The three took a large breath of fresh, misty air; only now did they realize just how bad the smell was in that sewer. Without hesitating, they then took off throughout the lifeless work zone, from box to barrel to girder, making sure they weren't spotted; they continued deeper into the very center of the city, to the tower.

Blanc was squinting hard as they continued to walk; he couldn't see five feet in front of him. He turned around to Dreamcatcher, "Y'know, if this is where all the actual work happens, you'd think the residents up above would have jobs here, and be able to actually access this pla—WAAGH!"

On a reflex, Dreamcatcher lunged towards Blanc and caught him by the tail, just before he fell off another drop-off deeper into the pit. Scootaloo was hanging off Blanc by his ear, gripping it tightly with her mouth for dear life, despite Blanc's constant cries of "ow". Dreamcatcher dragged him back up onto the ledge, and Blanc took a deep breath.

"Whoo…that was a close one, huh?" he said in cold sweat.

"Why should _you_ be afraid of falling?" Scootaloo asked, "You're a _pegasus_, after all."

"This mist…" Dreamcatcher said softly, "It's not normal, not natural. I can feel it, and I'm sure Blanc has by now, too—this mist is neutralizing our magic."

"What?" Scootaloo asked, really confused. "How does that work?"

"I wish I could tell you, Scootaloo, but honestly, I have no idea."

"You and me both, sister," Blanc replied as he got up on his hooves, "Now then, are we gonna have to through those frickin' sewers again to go down further? I can't even see the tower right now…"

"I think we should investigate this area a little more first, though we should keep on high-alert, in case anypony heard your obnoxious scream just now," Dreamcatcher scowled.

"I had every right to yell!" Blanc said in defense, "I was about to die, for Celestia's sake!"

"Anyways," Dreamcatcher said, changing the subject, "the fact that security and secret passageways are rather lenient down here, I wouldn't doubt it if there were a more direct form of transportation to the lower levels, however many there may be."

"What's with all of this stuff, anyway?" asked Scootaloo, "Nopony is even using any of this equipment, and none of these houses seem to be occupied. Is this place abandoned or something?"

"No, I saw for myself a few ponies walking around while I was looking through the grate," Dreamcatcher replied, "perhaps they put a few guards down here, just in case someone were to somehow find their way down towards the entrance to the tower."

They continued along the rim of the drop-off, looking for an easier way down that through the maze of sewers they had come from. Trying to find such a thing is pretty difficult when visibility is only five feet, if that. Thankfully, the thick fog provided excellent cover for the three Equestrians, and the couple of times that a guard has patrolled by, they hadn't even noticed them.

"Hey, I think those are stairs!" Scootaloo said excitedly as they reached a larger building on the level; there was a niche in the drop-off next to the building that was barely noticeable, but it lead to a very narrow set of stairs leading downwards.

"Good eye, kiddo," Blanc complemented as they snuck around the edge of the building and down the staircase. The large building actually was inhabited, or it appeared to be, since there were lights showing from inside the drapes and voices could be heard.

The staircase was embedded in the side of the cliff, so the only section that could be seen from above was that specific section carved out, a square only a few yards long, and only one yard wide. It seemed pretty dangerous, considering there was no rail guard or ropes to prevent someone from falling to their death. None of the ponies had any idea how far down they had to go, and eventually lost track of how far they had descended. The mist was getting thicker and thicker, and visibility eventually reached only one or two feet, max. Blanc had to hold Dreamcatcher's tail in his mouth to make sure of where she was. Walking for another five minutes or so, they arrived at a platform; they still couldn't see the ground. On the wall of the cliff, there was a single door that led inwards; since the three really had no other path to choose from, they decided to enter. Dreamcatcher would've used her magic to sense for any life behind the door, but this deep into the pit, she couldn't use even the simplest of spells—the antimagic was too strong. Dreamcatcher grabbed onto the door handle, and very slowly turned it, making sure not to make a single sound. After opening the door just enough to slip her head in, Dreamcatcher took a quick peek inside.

It appeared to be living quarters, but there was no one inside. The place was definitely in use, though—torches were lit and the sheets on the beds were clean and well-kept. After giving the go-ahead, Dreamcatcher entered the room, Blanc right behind her.

"Should we continue downwards?" Blanc asked; it was the first thing anyone had said in a while.

"Nowhere else to go," Dreamcatcher suggested. On that, they looked around the room for an exit, preferably to go further downwards. "There's a door over on the other side of the room, let's take it and see where we end up."

They quickly walked towards the door, and Dreamcatcher gripped the handle to turn it. But when she did, she felt the door handle begin to turn on its own.

Someone was on the other side of that door, and they were entering the room right now.

Dreamcatcher didn't even bother to say anything before making a move—grabbing Blanc by the tail, she dragged him and an accompanying Scootaloo into a corner of the room and draped a nearby bed sheet on top of them. By the time the sheet had finished falling slowly on top of them, the door handle had just finished turning and the door began to swing open. The ponies beneath the sheets listened closely as they heard a few sets of hooves walking into and around the room. One of the ponies, a mare, began to speak:

"So I overheard that there are six new residents up above today," she said, trying to spark conversation.

"Six?" the voice of a colt asked, "Wow, it's been a while since that many have been gathered at once. Do you happen to know how well they're faring with getting used to the place?"

"Saffron had met personally with them, actually," a second mare chimed in. Her voice was coming from only a few feet away from Dreamcatcher and Blanc and Scootaloo. There were sounds of jingling next to her as well; she was apparently digging around in her drawer next to the bed, the bed that Dreamcatcher took the sheet from and is now a conspicuous lump in the corner, though is currently unnoticed.

"Saffron? Bleh," the first mare replied, "I know I can't rightfully judge a pony I've never met, but I honestly don't like her. She seems way too easily swayed by popular opinion to be useful as a part of our government. And _especially_ all the extra labor laws she's trying to remove. We're already getting no payment for our work, and SHE wants us to do three more hours a day? Uh, thanks but no thanks."

"Pumpkin," the colt started, "we all already know your views on Saffron; and Charcoal, and Enigma, _and_ Wing Reader. Now, we're getting off topic here—any more info on these newcomers, Basil?"

The pony named 'Basil' began speaking again, "They seem _really_ intent on leaving, so I don't know whether or not they're going to end up staying where they are right now, in either the social ladder or in physical health; they claimed to be on some 'special mission', it really gets you wondering just what that mission is, doesn't it?"

"Hmm, doesn't sound good, if you ask me," the colt said, "it'll probably just be a repeat of what happened during that attack from the "Magic Avengers". Nopony stands a chance against Ricochet, and I'm sure only six of them will be no different. Hell, that gang had what—fifteen, sixteen unicorns? They were no match for Ricochet and his team! The team which happens to contain all the ponies you for some reason _hate_, Pumpkin."

"Hey, I never said I hated them!" 'Pumpkin' said in retaliation, "I just don't like the way their views on how things should be done around here. WE'RE the ones who do most of it, anyways; shouldn't WE get a say in what we should be doing for our own city?"

"Probably," the colt replied, "but it's not like we really have a choice, now do we?"

There was an uneasy silence after he said that; the intruders hiding under the bed sheet had to try even harder to keep from breathing heavily, so they wouldn't be heard. They were startled a bit when one of the mares suddenly yawned very loudly.

"Well, I suppose it's about time to hit the hay, huh?" Basil said. She could be heard jumping onto her bed, as well as the other two getting into theirs. Dreamcatcher's heart was beating really hard by this time. "Hey, where's my blanket—oh, there it is. What's it doing over here in the corner-"

The pony stopped talking after she took the sheet off the three hiding underneath. Dreamcatcher, Blanc, and Scootaloo all sat there, motionless, staring bug-eyed at Basil, who was staring at them with her own look of extreme surprise.

"You alright, Basil?" the colt called from behind her. From where he was lying, he couldn't see the three ponies in the corner. When he got up from the bed and looked over her shoulder, though, he too saw them and also stood motionless.

"Uh, how's it going…?" Blanc said nervously. Hearing this, Pumpkin, who had her blanket pulled over her head, jolted up to look over in the corner as well.

Time seemed to have grinded to a halt; the only thing that moved in the entire room was each ponies' eyes, darting back and forth to meet with one, then another. Neither side said a word—the Equestrians in fear, the Jasmines in shock.

"If…if no one else is going to say something, then I will," Scootaloo said. "We're doing something important, so…would you mind letting us go?"

"Uhm, uh," Basil stuttered.

Finally getting a good look at each of the three Jasmines, Dreamcatcher saw that there were two unicorns and an earth-pony; Basil was a light-green unicorn, and what little bit of her mane that was seen sticking out from under her rag of a hood was yellow and unkempt, and she had a leaf on her flank; the mare called "Pumpkin" was a bright orange unicorn, and her mane was a solid dark blue, along with a five-pointed star on her flank. The colt was the earth-pony, and he was a dark gray with a very dark-red mane; on his flank was a picture of a beehive.

Blanc began to stand, prompting the three surrounding them to each take an evasive step back. Blanc looked at each one of them in the eyes again. "Ehehe," Blanc nervously chuckled, "well, we three have somewhere to be, stuff to do. If you don't mind," he picked up Scootaloo, nudged Dreamcatcher and started to slowly inch his way towards the door further downstairs, "we three have to keep going."

At this, the colt's attitude changed from astonishment to anger. In a fleet of a second, the earth-pony charged towards Blanc with the intention of tackling him down. Unfortunately, Blanc didn't become the Head Captain of Equestrian Pegasi by being beaten up. Blanc bumped his rump upwards, throwing Scootaloo into the air, her head almost touching the ceiling; with the filly out of danger for a couple of seconds, Blanc sidestepped the colt's attack and knocked him hard in the side, a direct hit in a pressure point. The colt, reeling from the newfound pain, didn't react quickly enough to the hoof that swung straight into the side of his face, practically knocking him out. The colt landed on the floor just as Scootaloo landed back on Blanc's back. The blazing-white pegasus looked down at the groaning earth-pony on the ground, then up to meet eyes with the two remaining unicorns. They completely froze in fear.

"P-Please, sir!" Pumpkin begged, "Don't hurt us! We won't attack you!"

Blanc sighed, mainly out of relief that he wouldn't have to hurt anyone else. "Don't worry, I won't attack you s'long as you don't attack me." After giving them a moment to respond, and seeing the two unicorns' heads frantically bob up and down in agreement, Blanc continued, "Nonetheless, I was wondering something…" Blanc had actually seemed quite 'cool' after what he had just done, but he completely lost it after scrunching up his face and asking confusedly, "Rather, I'm kinda wondering _everything_ right now. Where is this, who are you, where are those six ponies we heard you talking about, and just _what the heck is going on_, for starters."

The unicorns gave Blanc a look of disbelief, then turned to Dreamcatcher; the looks on their faces suggesting that they felt Blanc wasn't in his right of mind, and wanted confirmation from a different pony.

"We snuck down into this city to save our friends," Dreamcatcher began, not sure if she could trust these ponies, but these two unicorns in front of her looked scared enough to agree to anything they say, if it meant not getting hurt by Blanc, "honestly, we don't know where we are going—heck, we didn't even know that there was such a big city down here, but we came to save our six friends that had been captured by some strange unicorn and his posse up above in the northern forest, and the first place we figured we should look is that big black tower, wherever it is, now, that is."

"Wait—you're telling me that you aren't even a native Jamine? Then what the hell are you doing here!" Pumpkin demanded.

"We have our ways," Blanc vaguely replied.

"We—We have to tell Ricochet, now." Basil started to move towards the door, but Blanc, who was closer to it than she was, blocked her off.

"We don't want any trouble," Blanc said in a threatening voice, "Now, if you could perhaps tell us more about these six ponies that were taken to this place today, we'd be much obliged."

"They're nowhere down here!" Basil replied, "Ponies that are taken are brought to the holding cell on the top tier! This is the bottom tier—you're not even supposed to have gotten here!"

"We were trying to get into the tower," Dreamcatcher said, "we had assumed that they were there." She looked back over to the door that they had entered from, "Thanks for the info, now we'll just be on our way."

"Oh no you don't!" the colt that had been laying on the floor slowly got on his front hooves. "We can't allow you to leave this place. Once somepony from the outside learns of Jasmine, they cannot leave!"

"Oh really?" Blanc questioned in protest, as if it were a challenge, "and why ever not?"

"Because of us," Pumpkin replied grudgingly.

"And you are?" Dreamcatcher asked, confused by the answer.

"We're slaves," Basil replied dryly.

There was another silence. Dreamcatcher looked over to Blanc and Scootaloo, who both had the same look on their faces as she did—a combination of confusion and concern. Why would slaves be here? A better question, why does this 'Jasmine' place exist anyway?

"That matter aside," Basil began, brushing off what she had just said, "what are we going to do with you three now?"


	19. Waiting Room

*Author's Note: I'm making some changes to this story. If you want to know more, just check it on my profile.*

It was like an old-style Mexican standoff. On one side of the room stood the Equestrians Dreamcatcher, Blanc, and Scootaloo; on the other, the Jasmines Pumpkin, Basil, and Keeper. Both sides were the same distance from the door as the other, and neither was going to let the other get out; the Equestrians to keep the Jasmines from telling anyone else they were there, and the Jasmines to prevent the Equestrians from getting to the tower. About half an hour had passed since Pumpkin had first pulled the sheet off of the three intruders, and a majority of the time spent since was a staring competition. Each side dared the other to make a move. Though the ever-present mist wasn't in the room, its effects were still very real, and none of the unicorns were able to use their magic, though this is a concept Basil and Pumpkin had gotten used to by now. Even though the teams were matched three-to-three, the little Scootaloo was rather a liability than an asset in battle. As such, the two sides were evenly matched, and had been making absolutely no progress between each other.

Dreamcatcher still couldn't fathom the aspect of having slaves in this underground city. Sure, it makes business sense to have free labor in a place such as this, but why in Equestria would they not only reject help from outsiders that know the way out, but actually go and tell their leader that she and her teammates were here? She couldn't take it anymore, it was time to take action; not physical, but verbal, as she was determined to use her silver tongue to her advantage—although her mind games were usually assisted by her magic.

Based on what she had heard from the Jasmines in the past thirty minutes, the pony called "Pumpkin" seemed to be the most resentful of their leaders, so that's the one Dreamcatcher decided to speak with. "Pumpkin, is it?" Dreamcatcher said out of the long silence, making the orange unicorn jump.

"Uh, yes? What do you want?" the pony demanded.

"There's something I'd like to know, and I'm wondering if you could answer for me."

"Don't talk to her!" the gray colt called "Keeper" coarsely said to Pumpkin, "She's trying to drain you of information—they already know too much about Jasmine!"

"Like I said," Dreamcatcher replied, trying to keep a level head, "we only came here to rescue our friends who were captured. On that note, what I wanted to know is who the unicorn that attacked is. Does a gray unicorn with black eyes ring any bells with you?"

"Specifically, I'm pretty sure you're talking about Ricochet, since he's the one that goes and collects new civilians," Pumpkin replied, disobeying Keeper's words.

"Ricochet," Dreamcatcher repeated to herself, "you three mentioned him before. Who is he?"

"He's our leader," Basil chimed in, "he's an extremely powerful unicorn who built this entire city of Jasmine only two years ago!"

"Yes, this 'City of Jasmine'…" Dreamcatcher trailed off, "…why? Why was this place built?"

There was another awkward silence. The three Jasmines looked down at their hooves.

"We aren't at liberty to say," Keeper replied. "We being the slaves of this community, Ricochet felt that we deserved the most to know why he built Jasmine, and is kidnapping ponies on the outside on a regular basis. Honestly, if you knew the truth like we do, you'd want to stay down here as well."

"Well, I'm not going to stay in this city unless you tell me the truth," Dreamcatcher replied.

"Is that a promise?" Basil asked.

"What? No—augh! I'm getting fed up with all of this, alright? Please just leave us be! We need to rescue our friends and get back to the surface!"

"This really is a serious situation," Blanc added, "we're on a mission from Princess Celestia herself."

"Ah, Celestia," Pumpkin said in reminiscence, "I remember back in those days, when that was a name spoken every day. These past two years sure have passed slowly, haven't they?" Pumpkin hesitated as she came back into reality. Glancing back at her two teammates first, she then looked back to Dreamcatcher and said, "Perhaps…I could help you, if you were to agree to help me out of here."

"WHAT! _PUMPKIN_!" Keeper yelled. "Have you completely forgotten what Ricochet has told us?"

"Honestly Keeper, I'm willing to take my chances. Unlike _you_, apparently, _I_ have never enjoyed being a slave. Yes," Pumpkin said to herself, making a final decision in her head, "I'm going to help you three save your friends and get out of here!"

"Wait, then I wanna go, too!" Basil added.

Keeper seemed completely beside himself. He opened his mouth to speak, but promptly closed it back up. He then opened his mouth again, "Fine! Go ahead—go back up to Equestria and _die_ there, _see if I care_!" He walked up to the Equestrians and got up snout-to-snout with Blanc, "I'm not going to tell anyone about what happened in here, but if someone asks me, or you guys get in a tumble, don't expect me to back you up." With a swift swish of his tail in Dreamcatcher's face, he made for his bed and crawled under the sheets, diving his head into his pillow.

Dreamcatcher turned to Pumpkin and Basil, both of whom looked very eager to get started. "So, are we going to go to this holding cell or something first?"

"Well, your friends probably out of there by now and are exploring the city. Either way, they must be on the top tier, so we should make our way up the stairs," Basil said.

"Yeah," Pumpkin said sarcastically, "I'm sure the workers on the mid-tier won't have any problems with two slaves leaving with three intruders. Actually, what time is it?"

"Huh?" Blanc asked, "I dunno, why do you ask?"

"Well, in certain intervals of the day, the workers in mid-tier come down to the-"

Almost as if on cue, hoofsteps could be heard, getting louder and louder, from up above, on the stairs where Blanc, Dreamcatcher and Scootaloo had come from. Voices could be heard, too; low, burly voices were talking and laughing together.

"Oh no," Basil said, becoming scared and energetic, "Oh no-ohno-ohno-ohno. This isn't good this isn't good this isn't good-"

"Shut up and follow me!" Pumpkin whispered loudly as she pointed to the other door, the door that leads downwards, deeper into the slaves' 'bottom tier'. Without question, Basil and the Equestrians followed, though Dreamcatcher didn't like the idea of going down further than they had already, especially since their friends were all the way back up where they had started; they were taking a very pointless detour, and it was all because of poor timing. Then again, Dreamcatcher thought, if they had started back up the stairs any sooner, they probably would've been caught.

Pumpkin turned the handle, swung the door open, and sped down another flight of stairs. Basil, Dreamcatcher and Blanc weren't far behind. Just as the other door began to open, Scootaloo, riding on Blanc's back, grabbed the door they were going through and closed it shut as Blanc continued down the staircase. Keeper hadn't moved a muscle since he climbed in bed, no longer caring about what will happen to the runners.

Unlike the stairs embedded in the stone wall outside, the steps the ponies were going down now were completely inside the solid rock of the city; there was no mist, and the sides of the slanted corridor was lit up with the orange glow of torches. After going down about two stories, they entered another room, a room much larger than the living quarters from upstairs. It was a dining hall, with several dozen large wooden tables lined up in rows; it looked as if it could serve a small village in one sitting. To the right, in the direction to the outside, there were two large wooden doors with their tops curved like an arc. On every other wall of the room were openings similar to the one they had just walked out of. Dreamcatcher assumed they each led to other rooms such as kitchens or more living quarters. Luckily for them, the entire place was empty.

"Alright, now as long as we're here, you should probably look the part of a slave," Pumpkin said. She walked towards a cupboard resting against a wall and opened it, taking out three piles of stained rags. "It ain't much, but it's what we got—the mist can get a bit cold sometimes. Also, you're probably gonna wanna ruffle your hair a bit, to be convincing."

"Are you sure we're going to have to stay down here for that long? I thought we were just going to wait out those guys up there," Blanc asked.

"Those 'guys' overlook the slaves, and they pretty much know everypony here, so even all of you looking the part may not get us out of here. Ooo, this is kinda exciting!" Pumpkin said with a grin and a shiver.

Blanc and Dreamcatcher began to drape the clothes over themselves. "What about this little one here?" Blanc said as he pointed to the small orange filly on his back.

"Here," Pumpkin tossed a potato sack to Blanc, "put her in there and then put the bag on your back." When she saw both Blanc and Scootaloo give her a weird look, the unicorn elaborated, "We don't have any fillies down in the bottom tier—Ricochet doesn't allow it. If we're gonna have her along, she's gonna have to hide one way or another. You got any better ideas?"

Blanc looked over to Scootaloo and shrugged.

"Aww man, I don't wanna go in a bag! This is dumb…" Scootaloo mumbled as she crawled into the sack. Blanc tied a string around the mouth of the sack and then tied it to his back. From inside the bag, Scootaloo's muffled voice could be heard asking, "How long are we going to have to be down here?"

"Until the inspectors leave, we'll have to keep on the down-low for the next few hours or so."

"Anything we can do while we wait, then?" Blanc asked.

"There isn't much out there except a dull white mist in front of your face; craploads of tilled dirt and farmland; and ponies working in unstable and dirty tunnels, digging deeper and deeper into the cavern for more valuables. If any of that sounds 'fun' to you guys, go ahead." Pumpkin raised an eyebrow at Blanc, surprised that he would ask what she considered to be a very stupid question. "Or perhaps you'd like to go one block over and buy a day-pass to the water park?"

"Shut up," Blanc said as he rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Well if _that_ isn't the pot calling the kettle black," Dreamcatcher said mockingly in Blanc's ear.

"Shut up!" Blanc said again, nudging Dreamcatcher away from him.

"There really isn't another way back to the surface? Don't you slaves have some secret tunnel hidden under a bed or something that we could go through?" Blanc asked hopefully.

Pumpkin gave Blanc another look of annoyance. "You honestly think we could pull off such a thing without getting caught? I may not care for Ricochet very much, but he is extremely powerful, and crafty. Basil, Keeper and I were some of the first ponies taken here to Jasmine, and we've seen it all down here in the bottom tier. There have only been two actual escape attempts—the first was what you suggested, a tunnel leading upwards. It took Ricochet only forty minutes to catch the conspirators red-hoofed, and their 'tunnel' dug in that time was only half a foot deep; the second was an ambush on the inspectors, half of the entire slave district attacked and proceeded to take over the mid-tier. We lost a large amount of our labor supply that day…" Pumpkin trailed off in thought, a melancholy look on her face as she recalled what happened. Coming to, she continued to tell the Equestrians of the goings-on in the bottom tier, all the while walking around the large dining hall. "Aside from actual escape attempts, there were also three instances in which there were plans made out to escape, and those three attempts were all stopped dead in their tracks the moment Ricochet found out. I swear, it's almost supernatural how he is so efficient. Down here, he's like a god looking over his puny subjects, and it gets me worried just thinking about it."

Dreamcatcher was very intrigued about Ricochet. The abilities he has, the power over all the magical ponies, and this mist debilitating their magic—she was sure he was behind it, and unlike everyone else in Jasmine, she also had a clue as to how he could do it.

"Um, Mr. Pegasus?" Basil said to Blanc, trying to get his attention, "About your question earlier, about whether or not there's another way back up to the surface? Well, there isn't any direct path from here to Equestria, but there is another way back up to the top tier."

"What?" Pumpkin bemusedly asked. "Wait—you don't mean…? Are you nuts? We'd be better off charging up those stairs to mid-tier right now! What you're suggesting is suicide!"

"Now you're talking," Blanc said, getting excited, "What is this 'other way', Basil?"

"Up the tower," Basil replied blankly. She pointed a hoof towards the large wooden doors of the dining hall, "We aren't too far away, and the tower itself has that bridge to each of the tiers; frankly, it'd be the quickest way back up, considering how they have elevators in there and all."

"Yeah, it would be the quickest way," Pumpkin replied, "the quickest way to get CAUGHT! Not only are there plenty of ponies and guards in that tower, but all the most powerful ones are in there, too! Charcoal, Wing Reader, or Enigma _alone_ could take on the five of us without breaking a sweat!"

"I think you may be underestimating our power," Blanc said in protest, "Do you two even have any idea who we are?"

"Neither of you ring a bell…" Pumpkin replied, trying to remember if she'd ever seen their faces back when she lived up in Equestria.

"Actually, Blanc," Dreamcatcher began, "I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't know who we were. They've probably been down here longer than we've been Head Captains."

"Wait," Pumpkin said, taking a moment for the words to sink in, "you guys are HEAD CAPTAINS? What're you doing down here? What happened to the other guys?"

"The 'other guys'?" Blanc said, raising an eyebrow. "Seems like you don't even remember the previous Head Captains."

"I know what they look like," Pumpkin snapped back, "I just forgot their names. Anyways, what happened?"

"There was an… incident a year ago," Dreamcatcher said, "Blanc and I became the replacements for the previous Head Captains, since we were next in line anyways. Iron Crusher is still the earth-pony Head Captain, though."

"Oh! I recognize his name!" Basil said excitedly, impressed with her own memory skills.

"Yeah…anyway," Dreamcatcher said, changing back to the relevant topic, "The two of us are quite powerful, and I'm sure that we can match anything that those 'Jasmines' can dish out."

"I think you're forgetting about the mist," Pumpkin replied. "In the tower is where the magic-debilitating force is the _strongest_."

"But what about those ponies you guys were talking about?" Blanc asked, "Won't they be affected by it, too?"

"Not by what I've seen," Pumpkin said gravely, "They each wear some piece of some weird black jewelry, which I assume allows them to use their magic without hindrance. If we were to _somehow _get the charms off of them and onto us, it'd be a huge advantage. But Ricochet can use his magic without any jewelry, so he would still be a problem."

"He doesn't need the jewelry?" Dreamcatcher intrigued, "How do you figure that?"

"Like I said, I've seen just about everything that's happened around here; anytime one of the tower-residents used their magic down here, they were wearing some form of a black gem—all except for Ricochet."

The ponies were pacing around the perimeter of the dining hall; they continued to talk for a while about their respective worlds, but kept quiet whenever an inspector or other slave walked in. After a while, they decided to go out the large doors and have a look at the bottom tier—the deepest, foggiest and most labor-intensive part of Jasmine. They were nearing closer and closer to the tower while Pumpkin gave them a small tour of the place, all the while trying to keep inconspicuous. But as they got closer to the tower, they all began to realize as anticipation grew—they were going to go in. Without having to exchange a word, the Jasmines and Equestrians decided to take their chances, none of them having a very good reason as to why.

Pumpkin and Basil, along with most of the other slaves, knew the layout of the first one or two floors of the tower. The first floor had almost complete access to the slaves, it being a large storage and sorting area for food and the like. Of course, getting from second floor to third floor was a challenging feat, but not impossible—it's not like slaves attempted to escape every day, so security wasn't as lenient as one would expect.

The five ponies passed through one of many large shed doors into the actual tower. The mist surprisingly was almost nonexistent inside, and none of it came through the open doors. There were a few dozen ponies walking about the large first-floor complex; there were large stairs and platforms, storage cells, several walls completely lined up with tools, and one or two inspectors keeping a watchful eye on it all. Dreamcatcher wasn't sure what Pumpkin's plan for getting to higher floors was, but seeing all of this didn't raise her spirits. Dreamcatcher and Blanc followed Pumpkin and Basil's lead, of who were walking casually across the large floor of the area to the other side, towards a wide staircase that led to multiple doors on the upper level of the first floor. As they came up closer to the stairs, the Jasmines leading the way gave a glance at each of the Equestrians; with a slight nudge of her head to the left, Pumpkin motioned to Dreamcatcher to follow her up the stairs separate of the other two. Basil, looking at Blanc, cracked her neck hard to the right; Blanc followed the light-green unicorn as she took a hard right, away from the staircase and behind a large cargo container. Pumpkin slowed down for Dreamcatcher to walk right at her side; when they reached the top of the stairs, Dreamcatcher noticed a mare that appeared to be an inspector, assumingly since she didn't look dirty and tired. She was sitting on a stool and reading a book, but looked up to see who was approaching. Pumpkin gave a nod to the mare.

"Evening," Pumpkin said nonchalantly to the mare. The mare nodded back, and returned to the book she was reading. Dreamcatcher continued with Pumpkin past the doors, but not before the orange unicorn coughed rather loudly, startling Dreamcatcher.

After getting behind the container, Basil had grabbed a few extra rags from a random hamper that had been shoved into the small passage they were hiding in. Shoving some of the clothing into a bag of her own that she had gotten from the pile, she quickly threw it on her and went to open up Blanc's bag containing Scootaloo. Scootaloo didn't say anything, but did glare harshly at Basil as the unicorn shoved several tattered pieces into the bag along with her.

"What exactly are we doing?" Blanc whispered to Basil; by this time, he could tell that she wasn't always as down to Earth as she should, but he really didn't see any purpose in what she was doing now.

"Shh!" Basil said to Blanc, looking at him angrily for having spoken. After filling up her and Blanc's sacks, she stood still and held an ear out towards the stairs. Blanc cocked an eyebrow at her.

Blanc heard a cough from above, and on that Basil suddenly began to move again. Nudging Blanc to follow her, the slave walked out of the notch in the containers. Blanc followed the mare up the staircase, trying not to look suspicious as they passed an inspector reading a book.

"Hold it," the mare said to them, looking up from her tome; Blanc froze in fear, but Basil seemed unfazed. "Two _just_ went through there; you'll have to wait for them to come out."

"But we're just bringing in some old laundry," Basil said, motioning to the bags on her and Blanc's back.

The inspector got up from her chair and walked over to Blanc, who was trying not to shake as she looked hard at the sack on his back. The mare gave the bag a poke, and after finding nothing suspicious about the feel of cloth inside, looked over to Basil, "Okay, but you'll still have to wait for the other two to leave. You of any pony should know protocol, Basil. Wait," the mare suddenly stopped after she sat down again, and looked over to Blanc and the Jasmine. Blanc's eye twitched; he was sure they were found out and the inspector was going to attack them or call for backup. Instead, the mare grinned at Basil. "That was Pumpkin that went in there just now, wasn't it? Fine, if you wanna talk to her that badly, go ahead. But you should really find time to talk outside of work, you hear?"

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind, Splash," Basil said with a smile to the mare, who returned to her book as Blanc and his guide continued into the doors.

Inside the next room was a small lobby lit with not torches, but bright white stones that served as lightbulbs. There were multiple laundry machines, dishwashers, and cupboards and boxes. Basil and Blanc noticed Dreamcatcher and Pumpkin in a corner and met up with them.

"Did you have any trouble?" Pumpkin immediately asked Basil.

"Piece o' cake," the unicorn replied to her friend.

"So, now what do we do?" Scootaloo asked from inside the bag as she pushed out the clothes that Basil had shoved in.

"Now, we start the dangerous part, and the most risky," Pumpkin replied gravely. "Follow me."

The five ponies went down a hallway into another room. In was an elevator waiting room—there were nine elevator doors total, three on each wall, excluding the side they had entered from. Two of the doors had 'OUT OF ORDER' signs on them, so there were only seven working elevators to choose from. Above each was a meter with an arrow pointing to the current floor the elevator was on; the number of floors apparently reached ninety.

"We're seriously taking the elevator?" Dreamcatcher questioned, "Isn't this a bit too…easy? I mean, has this really never been tried before?"

"It was tried once, a month ago, actually," Pumpkin replied. "Of course, there were…consequences." The orange pony pointed to one of the 'OUT OF ORDER' signs. The Equestrians could only imagine what she meant by that, though they didn't want to. "Since then," Pumpkin continued, "ID cards were made for tower residents to prevent slaves from operating elevators. Of course, security is pretty lenient, like I said before; all we have to do is—well, it's not exactly something I'd like to do, but-"

"I think I know where you're going with this," Blanc interjected, "Just let me handle it."

"You do realize it'll be pretty hard to go all the way up ninety floors in an elevator without being stopped by a pony wanting to use it, right?" Dreamcatcher asked.

"We'll just have to do the same to anypony that comes in," Pumpkin replied. "Now then, let's take off these raggedy clothes and at least try and look like we belong here. You can let the filly out of the bag, too."

Scootaloo didn't even wait for Blanc before leaping out of the dirty potato sack and breathing in fresh air. While the Equestrians were able to look presentable with a quick brushing of their hair and removal of the slave-wear, the two unicorns helping them didn't look very different with the dirt on their coat and the bags under their eyes.

"Now then," Blanc began after everyone was finished with themselves, "should we call for an elevator down here?"

"You can't," Basil replied, "An ID is required for using the buttons." She pointed to the panel next to one of the doors, and on closer inspection Blanc could see the horizontal slit above the up and down buttons. "We'll just have to wait for somepony to come down here on their own."

The next five minutes passed with a boring kind of anticipation. The five ponies looked between the three walls with the seven working elevators, each one glaring at the meters above the doors for an arrow moving to the left—to floor one. Even as nothing happened, tension continued to grow.

Suddenly, Basil cried out "I think one's coming!" and everyone turned to her and looked up at the meter of the elevator on the far right of the right wall. The arrow was going downwards from nine to eight—to seven, to six, to five, to four…

To three.

To two.

To one.

*DING*

The doors had only half opened before Blanc squeezed his way in and knocked a bare hoof across one of the three ponies' faces. The colt was tossed into the elevator's wall from the blow, and collapsed onto the ground. Before the other two mares could scream, Dreamcatcher had gotten inside the elevator and drop-kicked one of them with her front hooves, banging the mare into the floor and knocking her out cold. The third pony attempted to run out of the elevator, but was blocked and heaved back inwards by Basil and Pumpkin, who together body-slammed the mare forwards and into the adjacent wall, cracking the mirror that was hung on it.

"I'm so, SO sorry about this," Basil whispered in the mare's ear as she lost consciousness and fell onto the floor.

Dreamcatcher looked at the three damaged—hurt, but not mortally—ponies on the floor, and then turned to Scootaloo. "Next time, Scootaloo, please shield your eyes. Now, let's continue!"


	20. Making an Entrance

It was agonizing, the ride up the elevator. Ninety floors total, but the floor they needed to get to was floor eighty-five, where a bridge to the "top tier" existed. It was a large elevator, about six feet wide and eight feet inward, but the floor could only take so many unconscious bodies before becoming overpacked.

Dreamcatcher, Blanc, Scootaloo, Pumpkin and Basil all stood rather still, and quite awkwardly, amongst what was now seven knocked-out ponies shoved into the corners of the elevator. They were only on the twenty-fifth floor, too; each time the elevator stopped for someone waiting to ride it, they had no choice but to knock the innocent pony out and drag them into the elevator. By the time they had reached the twenty-fifth floor, they had been stopped three times on their way up and had actually gotten pretty efficient at beating the civilians up. As Dreamcatcher had requested earlier, Scootaloo closed her eyes and looked away each time the elevator gave a loud 'DING' and the doors began to open.

"So have you two ever seen this so-called bridge?" Blanc asked the Jasmines, "Because I'm pretty sure we won't have much time to dick around when we're all the way up on the eighty-fifth floor." Before either one could answer, he also asked, "And what floor are Ricochet and those other 'powerful' ponies you mentioned earlier supposed to be on?"

"Well, the three 'powerful' ponies I suppose would be Charcoal, Wing Reader and Enigma," Basil said in thought. "Wing Reader is Ricochet's secretary, and she is on the eightieth floor, along with Ricochet, though he's rarely in his office. The other two…I have no idea."

Pumpkin added on, "We only know what we've been told or have heard, but like I had said earlier, security is rather lax since escape attempts are few and far between."

"Yes, and you still haven't explained why that is," Dreamcatcher replied. "You said that Ricochet tells the slaves the 'whole truth', essentially as a consolation for making them slaves. It's _what_ Ricochet tell them—THAT is the sole reason that keeps slave ponies like you two from even _wanting_ to leave; heck, that one colt with you two earlier said you'd _die_ if you were to leave this city! And yet, you don't believe him?"

"Like I said, I'm willing to take my chances," Pumpkin stated, "And honestly, I'd rather not tell you about it—not now, at least."

"Very well, tell me when you have the will to," Dreamcatcher said. She knew that it really wasn't the time to talk, considering their current position.

They could feel the elevator begin to slow down, and upon glancing up at the floor indicator in the elevator, they were only on floor sixty-six.

Blanc sighed. "Here we go again…"

*DING*

Just as Scootaloo turned away, she could hear Blanc say, quite loudly:

"Oh…shit."

Turning back to see what was wrong, Scootaloo saw Blanc, Dreamcatcher and Pumpkin rush out of the elevator, Basil staying inside to keep hitting the button to keep the elevator doors from closing. The elevator waiting room on this floor had what looked like at least a dozen ponies, and within seconds half of them were on the ground. There was way too much movement going on for Scootaloo to make out anything that her friends were doing, but the sounds of bodies being thrown against the floor, into the walls, and even into other ponies were easily heard in the ruckus. Only ten seconds had passed before each of the Jasmines that had been simply waiting for an elevator lay unconscious on the floor.

"…We don't have any room for these guys," Pumpkin stated plainly.

"So what're we gonna do?" Basil called to them as they rushed back into the elevator.

"If we're going to leave even a single pony here," Dreamcatcher said, "then we may as well dump all the ones in the elevator here as well, to make room for any others on our way up."

"Oh man, I don't like where this is going, Dreamer…" Blanc said uneasily.

They tossed the bodies from the elevator into the waiting room and closed the doors. Dreamcatcher knew it was only a matter of time now before they got caught.

Unfortunately, that time was much sooner than expected.

They had only just reached the seventy-second floor when the elevator suddenly shut down. Alarms could be heard droning outside the elevator. Blanc looked around the elevator, but didn't see any security cameras, which only made him more nervous; there had to be some form of a camera watching them, just too small for them to see.

There was a minute of tense silence; the only sound heard being the alarms ringing faintly in the near distance. The ponies were waiting—whether that is for the elevator to start moving again or for their ultimate demise, they weren't yet sure of. Blanc tried to comfort himself into thinking everything was fine. Heck, if somepony were to take a look into this elevator right now, they wouldn't be suspicious at all, right? There were no bodies on the floor, they all looked decent enough…though the mirror on the back wall had a rather large impact crater on it. And the adjacent mirror, too. Actually, the entire elevator's interior was riddled with the story of a brawl.

*BANG*

The loud boom startled the five ponies; something had just collided with the floor of the elevator.

*BANG* There was a sizable mark left in the floor on the second impact. Basil and Pumpkin looked extremely nervous, even more so than Blanc and Dreamcatcher.

*BANG* On the third collision, the center of the elevator's floor gave way. From the hole climbed in a pegasus pony with a very dark gray coat—just a tint above black—and eyes of fire that started red at the top and ended with yellow at the bottom. His mane was somewhat patchy and ruffled, and on his flank was the picture of a small teardrop-shaped flame. Pumpkin and Basil could only look on in horror as the pegasus squeezed his way inside the elevator.

"Charcoal," the two Jasmine unicorns said in unison.

"What?" Blanc exclaimed, turning his attention to the pegasus that was now eye-to-eye with him. The dark gray pony gave Blanc a sickly grin.

"Looks like I found 'em," he said to himself proudly, "wait 'til the boss gets a load of this. Two slaves—two that have been in Jasmine's community since it was _founded_—helping out two Equestrians who escaped the ambush in the forest…only to sneak their way into the city we tried to bring them to! Ahahaha!"

"You think you can take us on?" Blanc challenged.

"You think I _can't_?" Charcoal replied as he cocked an eyebrow and smiled at Blanc again. "Bitch, I could take the four of you ten times over! What chance have you got here? Give up—you're surrounded, inside the tower, with no magical abilities! You honestly think you have a chance?"

"Wh-what're you gonna do to us?" Scootaloo asked from behind Dreamcatcher.

"Eh?" Charcoal said in surprise, "You brought the little filly with you? That's a stupid mistake if I ever saw one."

Charcoal made a move to grab the little orange pegasus, but Blanc and Dreamcatcher weren't going to let him succeed without a fight. Dreamcatcher made to kick Charcoal, but he sidestepped her attack and slid around her until he was right in front of Scootaloo. About to reach down and grab her, his face instead met with the back of Blanc's hoof, knocking the near-black colt into the already shattered mirror on the wall. As Dreamcatcher took Scootaloo into the other corner of the elevator, Charcoal turned and looked in the cracked mirror, noticing the blood running down his torn lip.

"You're a speedy one, aren't you?"

"Don't underestimate a Head Captain," Blanc replied.

"What?" Charcoal said in disbelief, "You mean to tell me that YOU'RE a Head Captain? Ahaha! This is great! Now I get to tell Ricochet that I brought him the 'head' of one of Equestria's Head Captains! Ahahaha!"

Basil and Pumpkin backed up into the same corner as Dreamcatcher and Scootaloo, half protecting the little pegasus, and half backing away from the large, menacing pegasus. Charcoal licked the blood off his lip as he got back up and faced Blanc, who was already prepared to either attack or defend.

The shimmering white pegasus and the muddled dark gray pegasus weren't taking their attention off the other, each burning holes through each other with their eyes. Blanc was trained and could certainly fare well in a physical fight, but he was used to being able to use his wings—not only that, but he was trying to fight an opponent he knew was powerful, but besides that he knew nothing about hi; to top it off, they were fighting inside of an elevator. The compact space didn't make for a very good battleground; then again, Blanc thought, if they were in the open Charcoal would be able to use his flight to his advantage.

Just as the slaves had said, Blanc noticed the small, shiny black stud pierced in Charcoal's left ear; Blanc could only assume that was the 'strange black jewelry' that kept the mist from effecting his magic.

"Are ya ready?" Charcoal asked Blanc with another large grin; the smiling was starting to really get on Blanc's nerves.

"As I'll ever be," Blanc replied with a snort.

Charcoal twisted around in an arc as he sped over to Blanc's side. Blanc, attempting to counterattack, swung out his hoof but missed his target by a couple inches. In the split second of opportunity given after Blanc's failed counter, Charcoal charged forward—using the elevator door as a launch platform—straight into Blanc's side, a direct head-butt. Blanc griped in pain from the hit, and he was still being charged forward towards the opposite wall; but before the gray pegasus could pound him, Blanc wound his wing tightly around Charcoal's neck. He may have lost the ability to fly with his magic, but he certainly didn't lose control of his wings, and with a firm hold on his enemy's neck, Blanc quickly jumped upwards, pivoting on the joint of his wing, and ended up right above Charcoal. The gray pegasus didn't react in time, and continued forwards straight into the wall, colliding into the shattered mirror without anything, or anyone, to cushion the blow. Charcoal had put all the force he could muster into the charge, and because of that he was disoriented for a moment after going head-first into the elevator's interior; Blanc took advantage of this and, while still holding onto Charcoal's neck with his bright white wing, pushed his hooves up against the elevator's ceiling to propel himself down, pile-driving the already jumbled Charcoal. Unlike the harmless, innocent ponies that he had only knocked out in the tower previously, this one meant to harm, and maybe even kill him—Blanc had no qualms about pulling all the stops on this Jasmine pegasus.

As Charcoal came to, he suddenly realized that his face was by impounded, punch after punch, by Blanc, who was now on top of him. The gray pegasus laid out his wings against the floor to propel himself upwards from the ground by a foot, and used the momentum given by the push to swing himself in a wheel, into Blanc; suddenly, Blanc was on the bottom and Charcoal was on top, beating Blanc's face in until he drew blood.

Dreamcatcher had had enough of this. She charged towards Blanc's adversary with her horn pointed straight for him—she may not be able to use it for magic at the moment, but a pointed object such like a horn wasn't purely for aesthetics. Just a second before she hit him, though, Charcoal noticed Dreamcatcher through the corner of his eye; he wound around and smacked her across the face, hard. Dreamcatcher fell to the ground, but quickly got back up, only to be drop-kicked again by Charcoal, who had jumped off a profusely-bleeding Blanc and now was giving her his undivided attention. Dreamcatcher was nowhere near as strong as Blanc was—not physically, at least; each time she tried to get back up, Charcoal would laugh manically and toss her back onto the ground.

Pumpkin and Basil wanted to do something, _anything_, but they were paralyzed with fear. They've seen firsthand what the pegasus Charcoal is capable of, and even now they were witnessing in horror his brute power and merciless force. It took a hit in the backs of their legs to come out of their trance.

The two unicorns turned around to see Scootaloo, who had just kicked each one hard to get their attention. "What are you waiting for?" she said to them, exasperated that they weren't doing anything to help. All it took was the look on Scootaloo's face—the fear, the sadness, her blurry eyes almost driven to tears—for them to snap out of it. Pumpkin and Basil darted their heads back to Dreamcatcher, who was still being beaten down by Charcoal; they looked to each other, nodded their heads quickly, and made for the gray pegasus.

This time, Charcoal hadn't noticed the attack coming at him from the side. A hoof knocked him hard in the back of the head, but it wasn't hard enough—Charcoal turned around and was suddenly nose-to-nose with Pumpkin. He smiled again, some blood from his lip had colored his teeth a dark red. "Pumpkin," he said in a persuasive tone, "whatever happened to you? You've been faithful to Ricochet for these past two years, and suddenly…you? Of all ponies down there in that shithole, it's _you_? I can't believe you let these morons convince you into helping them. And of all ponies, _you_ should know that we are not a group to be messed around with."

"You're bleeding," Pumpkin replied plainly.

"What?"

"I've seen you take down fifteen unicorns on your own without breaking a sweat, and yet here you are, bleeding. Bleeding because you were hit by a pegasus—a strong pegasus." Pumpkin glanced behind Charcoal to see Basil tending to Blanc's wounds, and trying to revive him; she needed to stall long enough to get that bloodstained pegasus back on his hooves. Charcoal would have noticed Basil too in the mirror, had it not been strewn all over the floor. The light orange unicorn looked back to the dark gray pegasus. "I feared you because of your power, but I now realize that you're nothing special. You're just a regular pegasus, in a world full of weak, powerless slaves. You suddenly find yourself against somepony not from here, and almost immediately you're hit and start bleeding. You're pathetic," Pumpkin said with a scowl to Charcoal, who was quietly growling at her—she knew she was seriously testing his patience, but she _needed_ Blanc to get back up. "You rely on scaring the weak and defenseless to gain your power and position. No wonder all you ever do is look after the slaves—that's the only thing you_ can do_!"

Charcoal's temple was quite visibly pulsing. "You little _shit_," he put Pumpkin in a choke-hold and grabbed a large mirror shard from the floor, "how DARE you say that to me! YOU WANNA SAY THAT AGAIN, BITCH!" he yelled as she shook Pumpkin violently and held the shard an inch from her face. "I'LL CARVE YOUR EYES OU-"

Charcoal's face was pounded into the floor by a red and white hoof. Pumpkin, shaking very badly, looked over to see Blanc, standing up again but looking really drained. He was wheezing between breaths. Charcoal began to get back up, but then Blanc reared up on his hind legs and brought down his front two hooves onto Charcoal's head. The pegasus didn't move again.

Blanc saw Dreamcatcher getting back up; she wasn't bleeding but she was ruffled up pretty badly, and the bruises were already beginning to show on her body. "Should we kill him? Or…is he already?" Blanc asked Dreamcatcher as he motioned to the pegasus under his hoof.

"_NO_, don't kill him," Dreamcatcher said forcefully to Blanc. "Have you forgotten the creed of a Head Captain? As long as he doesn't wake up for a while, we should be fine. Besides, I think Scootaloo has seen enough violence for one day, don't you think?" The dark green unicorn pointed to the little filly, still standing in the corner. Honestly, she didn't look all that scared, or at least not emotionally distressed—not anymore, that is.

"Ah," Blanc said, remembering the small cargo they were carrying along with them, "I'd almost forgotten." He brought his head down low next to Dreamcatcher's. "I sure hope none of this has any permanent impact on her," Blanc added in a whisper.

"So now what do we do?" Basil asked the rest of the team. The alarms were still blaring outside, and the elevator was still stopped. On top of that, Blanc was now a bloody mess and Dreamcatcher was extremely bruised; if they got into another fight on their way out, which seemed almost inevitable now, the outcome may not end up like it did just now.

"You're the ones who are leading the way," Blanc replied, "shouldn't _you_ know where to go next?"

"Not after what just happened!" Basil said exasperated.

"Well, first things first," Pumpkin said, "let's get the heck outta this elevator before Wing Reader or Enigma come crawling in."

With some effort, they pried the elevator's doors open. Before exiting, Blanc suddenly stopped. "Oh—hold on a second!" he said as he turned back into the elevator. He knelt down to Charcoal's unconscious body, grabbed the black stud in his ear, and tore it off the pegasus. "If this thing allows use of magic, it'll probably come in handy."

"Are you sure it's that simple?" Dreamcatcher questioned, "I doubt simply touching one of those things will allow use of magic. Go ahead, Blanc, try and fly."

Dreamcatcher's words made Blanc uneasy, but nonetheless he spread out his wings, jumped into the air and began to flap, all while still holding the stud in his mouth.

And he stayed in the air as his wings continued to flutter. "Well, whattya know."

Now Dreamcatcher was excited. With this, she could regain control of her magic! Granted, Blanc would probably like to keep so that he could fly, but his brute strength was more than enough to protect her, Scootaloo, and the other two unicorns. "Blanc," Dreamcatcher began.

"Yeah yeah," Blanc said casually, shaking off her serious tone, "here." He landed back onto the ground and tossed the stud to Dreamcatcher. The second it made contact with her, she suddenly felt a huge surge of energy, magic that she hadn't been able to use for quite a while now. It felt so…warm, and reassuring. It made her feel good, like she and her friends could take on anything. With her magic regained, the first thing she did was walk over to Blanc.

"Thanks, Blanc. Now to heal you up." With a glow of her horn, Blanc's body became encased in the same dark green aura that was now around her horn. The blood on his white coat faded away, and the cuts and bruises slowly healed. Blanc breathed a large sigh of relief.

"Boy, does that feel _much_ better," he said with a large grin on his face. "Now I'm sure we can take on anypony that comes in our way!"

"Don't get too full of yourself," Pumpkin advised the pegasus. "There's still three others that are deemed to be very powerful. Honestly, I can't believe what quick work you made of Charcoal, but then again, I realize now that he was nothing more than a bully who flaunted his power around. Ricochet gave him way too much credit," she said with a scowl. "That matter aside, there's still Wing Reader and Enigma, not to mention Ricochet himself. I _really_ hope we don't have to face any more of them, though—that fight just now, that was awful."

"About those other two ponies—Wing Reader and Enigma, you said?" Blanc asked the unicorn, "What are those two like? I take it the former is a pegasus, but you said that she was just Ricochet's secretary. Who's to say she isn't as easy, if not easier, than the guy that we just took down?"

"Charcoal relies on bare-hoofed punches, but Wing Reader is different, or so I'm told," Basil advised. "I hear what she lacks in physical strength she makes up for in weaponry. Sharp weaponry. I'm talking knives that can _cut_ through you like _butter_," Basil said with emphasis, holding up her hooves and shaking Blanc as she did so.

"Oh…" Blanc said uneasily, "is that all…"

"And then there's the problem of Enigma, a unicorn mare who certainly lives up to her name," Pumpkin chimed in. "Very few have even _seen_ her, much less seen what she's capable of. And even then there's still the big problem of Ricochet himself."

"…Why did we come through the tower, again?" Blanc stated.

"What's past is past," Dreamcatcher replied to the Head Captain. "Now let's get the hell outta here and up to the eighty-fifth floor!"

Blanc grabbed Scootaloo and hoisted her back onto his back as the four adult ponies began to run down the hallway connected to the elevator waiting room. The alarms were blaring in their ears now, and the halls were bathed in a red light, fading in and out. There were one or two ponies standing idly in the hallways, but Dreamcatcher and the others paid no mind to them; it's not like anyone knew what the perpetrators looked like, nor was it very easy to get a good look at a pony's face in the red floodlights in the halls. If anything, the alarm made for an easier getaway. For any ponies that did get a good look at any of them escaping, Dreamcatcher used a simple memory charm to wipe away their images. It sure felt good for her to be able to use her magic again.

Pumpkin and Basil were leading the way through the halls, of which looked like that of a hotel; with how large the tower was, Dreamcatcher wouldn't have been surprised if there were several floors with the sole purpose of housing residents. Somehow the two unicorns knew the layout of the level, and brought the Equestrians to a flight of stairs. Glancing upwards, one could see high up above that the steps led to their goal: the eighty-fifth floor. Wasting absolutely no time, they immediately charged up the steps, all of them getting a second wind after seeing that their destination was within a variable sight.

Dreamcatcher yelled over to Pumpkin as they continued up the stairs, currently rounding the seventy-fifth floor, "So do you know exactly where to go when we reach floor eighty-five? I don't exactly understand this whole 'bridge' concept you were talking about earlier."

"Hey, don't ask me;" Pumpkin said in defense, "all I know is there's a kind of bridge from this tower to the top tier on the eighty-fifth floor. How we're supposed to use it, I have no idea."

"Well, we've improvised just about everything else in this mission," Dreamcatcher sighed, "let's just hope luck continues to stay on our side—not that it really has been all that much recently." She tacked on the last bit after remembering the appearance of Charcoal. What had happened there was the complete opposite of lucky.

By the time they had ran up the thirteen floors to get to floor eighty-five, all the ponies were panting heavily, practically gasping for air, and their throats very dry.

"We…should've…paced ourselves better…" Blanc said between breaths. They had hurried so that they could get out of the tower ASAP, but now they had to wait a moment to catch their breath—for all they knew, an ambush could be right behind that door, and they didn't want to be out of energy if there was going to be a fight.

The red lights suddenly turned off, and the alarms stopped sounding. A second later, the normal lights came on, and the group had to squint, their eyes not adjusted to the bright light. As Dreamcatcher took her hoof away from her eyes, she suddenly saw that she was face-to-face with a black unicorn mare.

The mare did nothing, only stared at Dreamcatcher with a cocked eyebrow in interest at the unicorn in front of her. Dreamcatcher didn't do anything either, and only stared back. What really stood out to the Head Captain were the unicorn's eyes—or more specifically, her pupils. The thin, vertical black slits in her yellow irises were looking over Dreamcatcher, and she continued to say nothing. Finally, she smiled, and spoke to the green unicorn.

"Go ahead out that door—Ricochet is waiting for you five."

If the other four hadn't noticed the mare yet, they did now, and looked over to see the peculiar black pony. There had been a lot of staring contests going on today.

"E-Enigma?" Basil asked apprehensively to the mare.

"Yes?" she replied, giving Basil a look of genuine concern. Basil didn't say a word, so Enigma returned her attention to Dreamcatcher. "Go on," she said again, nudging Dreamcatcher towards the door, "Ricochet is simply _dying_ to see all of you. He is a pony you certainly do not want to keep waiting."

Dreamcatcher made an attempt to go back down the stairs they had come from, but hit headfirst into a wall—an invisible wall.

"Tsk-tsk," Enigma said playfully. "Did you honestly think that that would work?" She sighed. "Well, I have places to go and things to do, so I'll leave the lot of you in Ricochet's capable hooves; whether or not he can do the job right, I cannot say for certain. Oh, and here, take this." She removed a shiny black jewel-encrusted hairclip from her mane. "And give it to one of your friends." She placed the clip in a dumbfounded Dreamcatcher's hoof; the strange black unicorn then knelt closer to the dark-green Head Captain, and whispered in her ear, "Make it more entertaining than that fight with Charcoal, will you? I've been getting quite bored recently—you five are my temporary escape from monotony down here."

And on that, she left—rather, she descended straight through the floor, without the magic-giving clip in her hair, nor even with the glow of her horn. Dreamcatcher turned and looked over to the other speechless ponies standing next to her. The dark green unicorn threw her hooves up in the air, "You know what? I've given up on trying making any sense of this stupid city. Right when I thought I understood just about all I could, and the truth about Ricochet, here along comes one of his henchmen, only to give us assistance in taking him down." She fell onto the floor and sighed loudly. "I give up—I simply give up," she repeated with an exaggerated shrug.

"Well, we may as well make good of her gift," Pumpkin said reassuringly, and picked up the clip that Dreamcatcher had tossed on the ground. When she first touched it, her eyes widened considerably. One could see the contained excitement in her face as she too felt the same return of magic that Dreamcatcher had—except that while Dreamcatcher had lost her magic for about two hours, Pumpkin hasn't even felt her magic for the past two _years_. The power surge gave her new motivation, and she gave a single hefty breath inwards the outwards; she felt ready to take on the world. "Let's go through that door," she said with confidence.

"But that unicorn said that other colt was waiting for us in there!" Scootaloo spoke up, "Why don't we just go back or something?"

"Not an option," Basil replied. The other four ponies looked over to the light green unicorn as she continued to try and push her way through the invisible wall in front of the stairs. "UGH! How the heck can that pony use magic when she's directly in the tower like this? The anti-magic is _strongest_ here, and her only means of using magic was just given away to us!"

"Well…I suppose she isn't called 'Enigma' for nothing," Blanc replied with a shrug. Basil didn't seem satisfied with his answer, but she also gave up on understanding, and simply accepted it. Blanc turned his attention back to the door to floor eighty-five. "I'm sick of stalling here," he said as he tucked in his head, "now let's charge!"

Blanc broke the door off its hinges just with the force of his head-butt, which was unnecessary, but made for a good entrance…apparently. The shining-white pegasus marched into the massive circular room, followed close behind by Dreamcatcher, Pumpkin, and finally Basil. Before them stood a unicorn colt, his coat a neutral gray, right between pure white and pure black, and had white hair and black eyes. Next to him stood a light brown pegasus mare with green eyes and long dark-brown hair; she pushed the spectacles hanging on the tip of her snout slightly upwards with her hoof, to prevent them from falling right off her face. The two ponies were standing in front of a large, spherical mechanism that looked much like a gyroscope, only much, much more intricate. It had no basic cover, and there were gears, hinges and pulleys inside of it, all of which nearly covered a small sphere of magical light at the center.

Upon hearing the five enter the room, Ricochet and Wing Reader turned around from viewing the machine to see their intruders. Ricochet gave a small smile.

"Welcome," Ricochet said very nonchalantly to the five ponies, "We've been expecting you."


End file.
